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Google was founded on the principle of "Don't be evil", it has the power and influence to effect change, and it helped lead the charge against SOPA. Why is Goog

by espeed 13y ago

Google was founded on the principle of "Don't be evil", it has the power and influence to effect change, and it helped lead the charge against SOPA. Why is Google so silent now? "He who has the ability to act on an injustice, but who stands idly by, is just as guilty as he who holds the knife." How Google handles this will be its defining moment. This is could be an opportunity for Google to win the world over by showing it truly stands on its principles, or it could be its downfall, destroying its credibility, losing the trust of its users. Maybe Google is working behind the scenes putting a game plan together, or maybe it's getting something out of the situation -- let's hope it's the former. Like Eisenhower said, "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."

uptown 13y ago
'Google was founded on the principle of "Don't be evil"' I wish people would stop quoting this. It means nothing, and is not binding in any way. It sounded good, and it was a great marketing slogan - but it means absolutely nothing in reality.
- espeed 13y ago
  "Don't be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains" -- Google's 2004 IPO Prospectus (http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/Lectures/Google/Articles/Google_IPO_letter.html http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/...). Binding or not, it's a social contract, and it could mean the world if Google stands by it.
- Terretta 13y ago
  On the contrary, it lets Google use Crockford's jslint.
dredmorbius 13y ago
"Don't be evil" wasn't a founding principle, but one suggested by an engineer early in the company's history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil I've got my own very grave reservations about the company, but it has done some good stuff. I'm hoping we'll hear from them eventually. Truth is, much of The System is the way it is because the various participants have one another by the balls.
ajays 13y ago
"Dear Google, please save us!" You might as well have said, "Dear God, please save us!" Sorry, but you won't be saved by any corporate entity; they're in bed with the surveillance state anyways. It is people like us, yes, you included, who have to take up the baton and run with it. Here are things you can do: - Talk to your non-techie friends, and bring them up to speed - Explain to them why "giving up rights for temporary safety" doesn't work - Tell them why this sort of surveillance is against the core democratic principles this country was founded on - Suggest to them that they should vote out any politician who supports such policies. In the end, it is the Congress' job to keep checks and balances; and they've failed miserably. Time for all of them to go.
- espeed 13y ago
  You've mistaken me for someone else. Corporations hold more influence with Congress than voters. Google has enormous power, but it lives and dies by its users. If we hold Google accountable to the point it has to act, its lead could trigger a movement among the Internet giants, and that's a mighty big lever.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    > The truth of the matter is, corporations hold more influence with Congress than voters. Corporations are convenient fictions. The truth of the matter is individuals with lots of money and connections hold more influence with Congress individuals without lots of money and connections.
    - espeed 13y ago
      Last year Google spent $18,220,000 lobbying Congress -- #8 on the top spenders list (http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2012&indexType=s http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2012&index...). That's not fiction, but it's a drop in Google's coffers. And the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Elec...) removed the ban which prevented corporations from using their treasury funds for direct advocacy.
xhrpost 13y ago
> Why is Google so silent now? Because they are legally required to be silent. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323949904578539541070739164.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732394990457853...

by espeed 13y ago

uptown 13y ago

'Google was founded on the principle of "Don't be evil"' I wish people would stop quoting this. It means nothing, and is not binding in any way. It sounded good, and it was a great marketing slogan - but it means absolutely nothing in reality.

espeed 13y ago
"Don't be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains" -- Google's 2004 IPO Prospectus (http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/Lectures/Google/Articles/Google_IPO_letter.html http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/...). Binding or not, it's a social contract, and it could mean the world if Google stands by it.
Terretta 13y ago
On the contrary, it lets Google use Crockford's jslint.

dredmorbius 13y ago

"Don't be evil" wasn't a founding principle, but one suggested by an engineer early in the company's history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil I've got my own very grave reservations about the company, but it has done some good stuff. I'm hoping we'll hear from them eventually. Truth is, much of The System is the way it is because the various participants have one another by the balls.

ajays 13y ago

"Dear Google, please save us!" You might as well have said, "Dear God, please save us!" Sorry, but you won't be saved by any corporate entity; they're in bed with the surveillance state anyways. It is people like us, yes, you included, who have to take up the baton and run with it. Here are things you can do: - Talk to your non-techie friends, and bring them up to speed - Explain to them why "giving up rights for temporary safety" doesn't work - Tell them why this sort of surveillance is against the core democratic principles this country was founded on - Suggest to them that they should vote out any politician who supports such policies. In the end, it is the Congress' job to keep checks and balances; and they've failed miserably. Time for all of them to go.

espeed 13y ago
You've mistaken me for someone else. Corporations hold more influence with Congress than voters. Google has enormous power, but it lives and dies by its users. If we hold Google accountable to the point it has to act, its lead could trigger a movement among the Internet giants, and that's a mighty big lever.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > The truth of the matter is, corporations hold more influence with Congress than voters. Corporations are convenient fictions. The truth of the matter is individuals with lots of money and connections hold more influence with Congress individuals without lots of money and connections.
  - espeed 13y ago
    Last year Google spent $18,220,000 lobbying Congress -- #8 on the top spenders list (http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2012&indexType=s http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2012&index...). That's not fiction, but it's a drop in Google's coffers. And the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Elec...) removed the ban which prevented corporations from using their treasury funds for direct advocacy.

xhrpost 13y ago

> Why is Google so silent now? Because they are legally required to be silent. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323949904578539541070739164.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732394990457853...