[governance] regulating global digital monopolies

[McTim]

Good Points Wolfgang,

2011/9/23 "Kleinwächter, Wolfgang" <
wolfgang.kleinwaechter at medienkomm.uni-halle.de>

> Parminder:
> Can a small country in Africa or Asia do such an inquiry against google
> today?
>
> Wolfgang:
> Germany is certainly not a "small country" but a good example how "global"
> and "local" works together. When the Germans protested against Google Street
> View in 2010, Google changed its policies according to the German wishes and
> made clear that it respects national law. I can not see that Google will
> ignore a law in Kenya or Botswana



BTW, I do know several of folk who run Google in Africa.  There job is NOT
to make money here, but to build the ecosystems that will enable them to
further their mission long term (and yes, perhaps to make money eventually,
which is what all social entrepreneurs do).

In other words, Google is spending money in Africa to get more Africans
online, build more local (and localised) content, adding caches so that more
traffic stays in Africa, running free events and coding competitions (with
cash prizes), offering free websites for local businesses (see kbo.co.ke),
offering subsidised bandwidth to Universities across the Continent, etc,
etc.

I know the countries here in Africa where I have lived are DELIGHTED to have
Google open offices here, as they are creating jobs, investing money, paying
taxes and creating whole ecosystems of companies who will also do all of the
above.


-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route
indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel
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