4 ms·

Reminded me of their first principle, and how well they did with that one: "Don't be evil"

by capitalisthakr 8y ago

beaner 8y ago
Pretty well, all things considered.
- zanedb 8y ago
  Elaborate?
  - snorrah 8y ago
    Well I’m guessing everyone will have a slightly different viewpoint, but my use of google services over the last 15? years has not had me feeling they’ve done anything evil to me. Yes I’m sure they have a huge swell of data about me, but so far the use of that data has not caused me any suffering, or pain, or misfortune etc. “Don’t be evil” is quite a poignant statement. If they were to say, “don’t do bad things” then I wouldn’t have quite the defence. But no, for at least me, a sample size of one, they have not been evil.
- mtgx 8y ago
  3 antitrust cases in the EU (Shopping, Android, and Adsense), and a couple of FTC antitrust cases im the US (one of which Eric Schmidt lobbied away through Obama) say otherwise. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/18/google_had_obamas_ear_on_antitrust_probe/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/18/google_had_obamas_e... If that's supposed to be "our best", we're in trouble.
  - randcraw 8y ago
    Antitrust isn't about committing a crime so much as competing so well that the the company sucks the oxygen from the room. Becoming a monopoly isn't evil. It's an excess of success. It's the responsibility of government antitrust law, not Google, to 'un-distort' the playing field and resurrect competition / opportunity. No one expects a corporation to voluntarily give away marketshare to ensure it doesn't run afoul of antitrust law, just because the company also vowed not to be evil. A negotiated settlement with regulators is exactly where this kind of matter should lead; no crime done.
    - erikpukinskis 8y ago
      Yes, being a monopoly isn’t evil, leveraging monopoly position is.
finnthehuman 8y ago
They’re only fighting the EU to maintain their horizontal integration against allegations of unfair competition.

Reminded me of their first principle, and how well they did with that one: "Don't be evil"

beaner 8y ago

Pretty well, all things considered.

zanedb 8y ago
Elaborate?
- snorrah 8y ago
  Well I’m guessing everyone will have a slightly different viewpoint, but my use of google services over the last 15? years has not had me feeling they’ve done anything evil to me. Yes I’m sure they have a huge swell of data about me, but so far the use of that data has not caused me any suffering, or pain, or misfortune etc. “Don’t be evil” is quite a poignant statement. If they were to say, “don’t do bad things” then I wouldn’t have quite the defence. But no, for at least me, a sample size of one, they have not been evil.
mtgx 8y ago
3 antitrust cases in the EU (Shopping, Android, and Adsense), and a couple of FTC antitrust cases im the US (one of which Eric Schmidt lobbied away through Obama) say otherwise. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/18/google_had_obamas_ear_on_antitrust_probe/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/18/google_had_obamas_e... If that's supposed to be "our best", we're in trouble.
- randcraw 8y ago
  Antitrust isn't about committing a crime so much as competing so well that the the company sucks the oxygen from the room. Becoming a monopoly isn't evil. It's an excess of success. It's the responsibility of government antitrust law, not Google, to 'un-distort' the playing field and resurrect competition / opportunity. No one expects a corporation to voluntarily give away marketshare to ensure it doesn't run afoul of antitrust law, just because the company also vowed not to be evil. A negotiated settlement with regulators is exactly where this kind of matter should lead; no crime done.
  - erikpukinskis 8y ago
    Yes, being a monopoly isn’t evil, leveraging monopoly position is.

finnthehuman 8y ago

They’re only fighting the EU to maintain their horizontal integration against allegations of unfair competition.