In what might well be a case of bad karma, Virtual Map, the guys behind www.streetdirectory.com, has been taken to the courts by the Singapore Land Authority. According to a report at Today Online, SLA has filed a suit for copyright infringement against Virtual Map and is asking for damages and an injunction to prevent the company from further infringement.

SLA says that it licensed the map data and street information of Singapore to Virtual Map, but the license was terminated in July 2004. After the termination, Virtual Map allegedly continued to sell and distribute the maps and also created new ones which SLA claims are reproductions of the authority's works.

Virtual Map has hit the news in recent years for sending out letters to hundreds of companies here, demanding payment for reproducing maps from its Web site. According to the report, Virtual Map has filed five civil suits--against the likes of NTUC Income and Suncool--for copyright infringement. The suits have all been settled out of court.

In the meantime, SLA has launched a new street directory service of the island called StreetMap@SIngapore

Check it out!