1. Google is getting very large and powerful, and power corrupts. Plus, as you get large, there is more opportunity for badness/evil, and more damage that can be done, accidentally or deliberately. (I'm not crazy about the DoubleClick acquisition, by the way, for this reason). Hopefully this is offset by controls that eliminate excesses but don't stifle creativity.
Still, Google explicitly raised the bar for themselves by publicly and famously stating that "don't be evil". Isn't raising the bar for yourself good?
Obviously people will pound you if you slip up, but that, too, is good. You've effectively asked the world to watch you, and help you not be evil by being an extra set of eyes.
Can anybody point to an example where Google has been evil?
2. I think the Google in China thing, altho getting close to the line, was ok. The age discrimination case with the ex Alta Vista guy appears to be a matter for the courts, not systemic discrimination.
I also don't like the amount of their legalese - Google should, IMHO, keep their lawyers on a shorter leash.
But is this evil? I think not.
3. Or is this a game being played by dirty companies desperately hoping to redirect focus away from their misdeeds?
I really don't understand why Google is being criticized these days.
I trust everybody remembers that only Google went to court (and won) when the US government demanded to snoop on their searches (arguably, an illegal act since they didn't have proper authority, by the way) - AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft all rolled over, very disgustingly (as did the telcos).
I wish more companies would make a public statement of ethics and follow them, starting with telling the truth.
4. Another measure of how ethical a company is the amount of money it pays in fines (ignoring patent trolls), how often it is charged, how often it is convicted. Google is in rather good shape here, contrasted, with, say, Microsoft. |
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