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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Interesting sets of developments… <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>And, (again) FWIW I should say that I would not wish my comments or posts to be taken as "Google-bashing"… <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>As a company, Google's products have made huge contributions to global well-being and dare I say, the global public interest… Including through their pursuit of their mission to be the cataloguer (and ultimately portal) through which the world organizes and accesses its information. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>That being said, and largely because of their success in the pursuit of their mission and their effectiveness as a company they have become a dominant agent in an area that I consider crucial to our collective global well-being--the pursuit, organization and use of knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>It is precisely because of that success that they need to held to account and scrutinized for their behaviours rather more than their lesser (and less significant) corporate colleagues. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>As well, they are now one of a small set of companies with predominant influence in the Internet economy and thus in the overall Internet ecology. Again because of that predominant role they (like the other companies in that ecology) need to be held to public account for their behaviours ethical, as well as legal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>I think that it is our role and responsibility as civil society concerned from a normative perspective with the overall "governance" of the Internet to discuss and call out as necessary Google (and other similarly predominant companies or governments or multilateral institutions or whoever) when their actions or the effects of their actions would appear to be damaging or a threat to the global public interest. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Isn't this precisely what civil society should be doing?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Mike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20943779">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20943779</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><div id=article><h1 style='text-align:justify;line-height:15.0pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>France tells internet service provider to end ads block<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span class=float><b><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>8 January 2013</span></b></span><span class=apple-converted-space><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'> </span></span><span class=float><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Last updated at</span></span><span class=apple-converted-space><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'> </span></span><span class=float><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>12:59 GMT</span></span><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='margin-left:15.0pt;margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:start;-webkit-hyphens: manual;float:right'><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><img border=0 width=304 height=171 id="_x0000_i1027" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CDED89.EFE1AF60" alt="Free sign"></span><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Free has argued that Google does not pay its fair share<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>A major French internet service provider (ISP) has agreed to abandon its ad-blocking policy - seen as a swipe against Google - after a minister intervened.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Digital Economy minister Fleur Pellerin said she persuaded Free to restore full access to all content on the internet, including Google ads.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Free started blocking ads last week when it updated home router software.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>It was seen as forcing Google to pay its fair share to service providers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The French minister said: "No actor can jeopardise the digital ecosystem in a unilateral way."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Free has argued in the past that Google does not pay its way when ISPs are forced to increase investment in running services like YouTube, which take up a lot of bandwidth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Google's AdServe online advertising software - which allows online businesses to target their audiences in exchange for a share of the advertising profits - is used on many websites.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>'Cuckoo bird'</span></b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Philippe Jannet, the former president of Geste, the French online publishers association, said that when operators "see Google come in like a cuckoo bird and make profit off the internet service they provide without receiving a penny in return, it's normal that they get mad".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The move by Free - France's second biggest ISP with more than five million subscribers - would have cost Google up to one million euros every day, a source told news agency AFP.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>"That's what would push the giant to speak to the little operator," he added.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Ms Pellerin said she did not have an estimate yet of the financial impact from the fallout. She has scheduled a meeting with Google about Free's actions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>A Free spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Google spokesman Al Verney said: "We are aware of Free's actions and are investigating their impact."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:4.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%;background:white'><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'><a href="https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now" title="Go to archives for ip"><span style='color:#669933;text-decoration:none'>Archives</span></a> </span><a href="https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/22720195-33c4478e" title="RSS feed for ip"><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#669933;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=10 height=10 id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CDED89.EFE1AF60" alt="https://www.listbox.com/images/feed-icon-10x10.jpg"></span></a><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'>| <a href="https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=22720195&id_secret=22720195-ee88e0f4" title=""><span style='color:#669933;text-decoration:none'>Modify</span></a> Your Subscription | <a href="https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=22720195&id_secret=22720195-5d1aea5d&post_id=20130108084959:39D8422E-599A-11E2-B48D-E478626CC7B1" title=""><span style='color:#669933;text-decoration:none'>Unsubscribe Now</span></a> </span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><a href="http://www.listbox.com/"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=152 height=19 id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image003.png@01CDED89.EFE1AF60" alt="https://www.listbox.com/images/listbox-logo-small.png"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>