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Last month, a South Korean joke/entertainment site called Humor University (certainly not to be confused with College Humor!) engaged in a tiny sideshow of legal threats versus Google over the search giant terminating their Adsense account. Google claimed there was some clickfraud chicanery going on with the Humor University account, which HU disputed. Unfortunately for Google, the issue got much larger, irritating, and potentially costly.

The Korea Fair Trade commission ordered Google to rewrite its Adsense contracts this week, removing provisions that allow Google to unilaterally terminate the agreements. Such action is considered unfair under Korean law. This has emboldened Humor University to move forward with its lawsuit asking for 20 million won (about $21,000), the amount HU claims it is owed for its Adsense account. HU president Lee Jung-min doesn't plan to sue for punitive or related damages, saying "The litigation is not about money, but about our self-esteem." Google hurt their feelings more than anything else, you see. If successful, copycat lawsuits will no doubt come in from all over South Korea, which could result in Adsense getting crippled or pulled nationwide. Who, then, will provide income to thousands of crap websites about anime characters and nubile Asian chicks?