altarr

Bernie Sanders to save the world in 16.

If you win, do you promise to not be batshit crazy?

<stands on soapbox>

You know, I am fine with Google collecting whatever they want. They provide a free and very useful service to me and there has to be a tradeoff somewhere. In essence, I am selling my data to Google for access to these tools. So long as there is transparency over the usage of this data I am happy. After all, it is always my choice to stop using these tools and move onto something else. Unfortunately with this opinion also comes the notion that if I do not like what Google does with its results, then I am free to not use them. My issue is with their claim of freedom and their actions which speak otherwise.

A recent example was Larry Paige bemoaning the lack of cooperation amongst tech companies and slamming Microsoft in particular. This is quite funny as Google recently blocked the youtube app for windows phone...pot meet kettle.

Adding to the complications of my beliefs is that google is now so large and so effective, that using other tools is almost laughable. Traditionally this is where anti-trust laws would be most useful, however, when both the private enterprise and government desire intersect, that vengina becomes very dangerous ground. There is no incentive for government interference (which, if you believe in a free and open market, you want) when google will just be 'evil' and play ball with the feds in exchange for some blind eyes and not blind justice.

The more you dig, the more you see their interests are closely aligned and how much potential they have for 'evil'. To them, evil=dollars. The quest and pursuit of dollars is not inherently evil, but I believe in this case, the dollars are stained.

The internet should be the model of a free and open cyber-society, warts and all. There should be no backdoors, no workarounds for law enforcement. For every evading technique used by those who operate in a less than legal space, there is a new way to catch them. One could argue that this actually spurs creativity and innovation. We should be building up what has now been idealized in the US as "the old west" replete with lawmen and outlaws alike.

Sites should stream otherwise protected content as much as local authorities are free to pursue them through their own legal channels. There should be no ad-hoc blocking (or exclusion from search results) on an access level, but, if this material is deemed to be illegal in a locality then the local enforcement should be free to remove the hardware hosting it. There will always be a new frontier to host your server should you run afoul of your existing home. The outright traffic modification and censorship are just as much a crime as the "pirates" they accuse. I used quotes so as to not offend my gracious AMA thread hosts :-)

On this particular issue, we all have to realize that there are only so many ways to fund the entertainment we all enjoy. Movies cost money to make, it is a simple fact. In the traditional entertainment model we have TV: paid for by commercials, merchandising, DVD sales, product placement etc and then distributed on local airwaves for $0. Movies: traditional theater sales, rights sales, dvd, merch etc

Here is the issue. If we continue on our present course we will kill the goose that laid the proverbial golden egg. What incentive will there be for a studio to continue to spend money on a movie when no one is a.) paying to see it or b.) paying for it to see at home? Sure we will continue to buy the action figures until we can 3d print them at home. Same goes for TV.

It is a difficult problem with no easy answers. While most of us are used to this "interwebs" thing by now, it is really beginning to hit big strides. You can see evidence of this in the recent "arab spring" and Turkey uprisings. People are catching on and we are creating and sharing information at rates never before seen in human history. The Internet is raising the water level of humanity and with it, all boats must rise. It is easier and easier to shine a light on the scum of humanity and on celebrities who do not wear panties(<-this redditors personal favorite). Moving into the light will help us all. We should all be afraid of those who are the most afraid of this change. They are the ones who most likely have a level of control over us which they probably should not have (I am looking at you organized religon). The end is coming for these organizations/people and the future has never been brighter (and not in the Timbuk3 nuclear holocaust way).

</steps off soapbox>

I disagree on the interesting part. I think it should also be noted that the "champion of freedom" and "not an evil company" google should be called to the floor for refusing to index it. Your mission, right or wrong, deserves a light so that people can judge for themselves. If companies like google continue to just sweep you under the rug we will never force a real debate on the issues and we will continue to let our lives be dictated by a select few.

Google loves to pretend they are not evil, but they still do business in China despite that regimes restrictions on free and open access. If that isnt selling out for the almighty dollar (or Yuan) then I do not know what is.

Good for you guys for at least making a stand for what you believe in.

no such thing as a hot or a cold shooter or table. No such thing as dice influencing, just strings of "luck" based on probability and math.