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It's really hard for me to imagine regular Google software engineers doing stints in government just to procure IT contracts. Do you really think that's how thi

It's really hard for me to imagine regular Google software engineers doing stints in government just to procure IT contracts. Do you really think that's how things work? It amazes me that people will look for corruption in anything. Is it really that implausible that people might not just feel a civic duty to help improve government? For the record, 18F and USDS both seem to have pushed for multiple cloud solutions, including their own cloud.gov.

ocdtrekkie 10y ago
Many of these aren't "regular Google software engineers". Eric Schmidt is the former CEO and is on an advisory board at the DOD, while still chairman of the board for Google. Matt Cutts, USDS and still employed formally at Google as well, is one of the most public faces of the biggest and most profitable division Google has. If Google was a single color, I'm confident Matt Cutts would bleed it. I'm not "looking for corruption in anything". I'm looking for corruption in one of the biggest lobbyists in Washington DC that has very close ties with our administration, and strangely, has managed to avoid any sort of legal action against them, despite the fact that almost every other first world power finds cause to do so. The previous FTC Commissioner, who is tasked by our government to regulate companies like Google, was a former paid Google shill who fabricated pro-Google "studies". After being paid under the table by Google, and then squashing an FTC investigation against Google during his term there, he's now working for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a law firm who has a notable client... Google. I'm not "looking for corruption in anything". It's just that it's incredibly implausible that Google does not have a corrupt relationship with the government.
- morgante 10y ago
  You didn't answer my question about why you think Google software engineers would work for government just to sell Google products. Instead, you pointed to much higher-level and isolated cases. The vast majority of the 250+ Googlers working in government are likely mid-level employees without significant policy responsibility. I gave a specific link to this "Transparency Project" targeting mid-level Google engineers. [0] You seem to think the people on this list are mercenaries working in government just to sell Google contracts. Since you seem to be uninterested in having a conversation on this and instead have an axe to grind, I'll see myself out. [0] http://googletransparencyproject.org/articles/us-digital-service http://googletransparencyproject.org/articles/us-digital-ser...

ocdtrekkie 10y ago

Many of these aren't "regular Google software engineers". Eric Schmidt is the former CEO and is on an advisory board at the DOD, while still chairman of the board for Google. Matt Cutts, USDS and still employed formally at Google as well, is one of the most public faces of the biggest and most profitable division Google has. If Google was a single color, I'm confident Matt Cutts would bleed it. I'm not "looking for corruption in anything". I'm looking for corruption in one of the biggest lobbyists in Washington DC that has very close ties with our administration, and strangely, has managed to avoid any sort of legal action against them, despite the fact that almost every other first world power finds cause to do so. The previous FTC Commissioner, who is tasked by our government to regulate companies like Google, was a former paid Google shill who fabricated pro-Google "studies". After being paid under the table by Google, and then squashing an FTC investigation against Google during his term there, he's now working for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a law firm who has a notable client... Google. I'm not "looking for corruption in anything". It's just that it's incredibly implausible that Google does not have a corrupt relationship with the government.

morgante 10y ago
You didn't answer my question about why you think Google software engineers would work for government just to sell Google products. Instead, you pointed to much higher-level and isolated cases. The vast majority of the 250+ Googlers working in government are likely mid-level employees without significant policy responsibility. I gave a specific link to this "Transparency Project" targeting mid-level Google engineers. [0] You seem to think the people on this list are mercenaries working in government just to sell Google contracts. Since you seem to be uninterested in having a conversation on this and instead have an axe to grind, I'll see myself out. [0] http://googletransparencyproject.org/articles/us-digital-service http://googletransparencyproject.org/articles/us-digital-ser...