Google Not as Evil As Wall Street Journal Thinks
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The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has shifted its position on net neutrality, supported by big-thinker Lawrence Lessig. Lessig responds with a post called "The made-up dramas of the Wall Street Journal." Google says the issue is edge caching, of the sort long-practiced by Akamai and others. A leading net neutrality proponent isn't buying the Journal's interpretation. Analysis: "[T]he WSJ is blowing this totally out of proportion when it comes to the Google/net neutrality angle. But that doesn't mean it doesn't raise other important questions for those who line up behind the big internet companies in the expectation that Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo will fight various fights for them...Google is no longer the defender of Silicon Valley... it's done a number of deals that allow it to leverage its cash reserves to make life more difficult for others, but allow Google to protect itself." As I said not long ago, Google is at this point another large company that will behave like other large companies. UPDATE: "The incredible response to that Wall Street Journal article about Google and net neutrality is a reminder that fact-checking can now happen very quickly, and very visibly. " |
Comments (5)
Doc Searls has some comments and points to Steve Shultze who keeps up the subject better than he does.
Posted by RBM | December 15, 2008 6:21 PM
Google is still evil, and not because of Net Neutrality.
Google is evil because its staff actively censor political content that differs from their personal bias -- which is to say, anti-leftist content.
Posted by Evil Pundit | December 16, 2008 3:58 AM
If Google is not as evil as the WSJ thinks, is it even more so?
Posted by David Govett | December 16, 2008 1:31 PM
Google is not evil. Google is a company trying to offer the best product, for the best profit for its shareholders. That is their job. If you don't like the way they work, use a different service. That's the capitalist way.
If you don't like what they are doing, find someone who does... or do it yourself.
Posted by Bill Reinersmann | December 17, 2008 10:04 AM
"Google is a company trying to offer the best product, for the best profit for its shareholders. That is their job."
I agree with this, and it does not meet my definition of "evil." As the linked post (under "said" near the bottom of the piece above) says, though, I believe it goes against the definition of "evil" Google was using when it came up with the motto "Don't be evil."
Posted by Ed Cone | December 17, 2008 10:18 AM