[governance] More... Google: "Internet Freedom!"... (to do whatever it pleases and serves its business interests?

[Louis Pouzin (well)]

Google corporate interests are so obvious and their propaganda so inflated
that it's likely to burst, and somehow backfire. Nevertheless they will
howl "we saved internet" after the event. Unless they over assessed their
media power, they could have been maneuvered by other lobbies not so eager
to play point man while being involved in secretly negotiated treaties (TPP
etc.).

Google is also entangled in legal cases out of USA: fiscal schemes eluding
taxes, refusal to pay out fines, illegal reproduction of information,
illegal collection of personal data, etc. Looking like the white knight
rescuing internet from the dragon claws could perhaps mitigate their
predicaments.

Louis
- - -

On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 4:24 PM, michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/google-encourages-users-to-join-campaign-against-copyright-draft-law-a-870590.htm
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> *It is a new type of lobbying power when Google now endeavors to enlist
> its users in the struggle to defend its own business interests. In the
> language of the Internet, one could also say that the company is trying to
> crowdsource its own lobbying efforts. This is a widespread method in the
> US, where it's known as grassroots lobbying.*
>
> * *
>
> *In doing so, the company is relying on a trick that Germany's Pirate
> Party has also used to achieve many of its successes: It merely brands a
> proposal that it's targeting as a threat to the free, open and uncensored
> Internet. The tactic behind this move is obvious. Recently in the US and on
> a European Union level, a number of bills have failed due to resistance
> from online campaigns. With its current campaign, Google is seeking to use
> this to its own benefit -- and is openly playing on politicians' widespread
> fear of a shitstorm.*
>
> * *
>
> *Legal but Risky Business*
>
> * *
>
> *The vehemence with which Google is pursuing its campaigns is astonishing
> because it entails considerable risks for the company. The discrepancy
> between Google's lofty words and its agenda is far too evident: Of course
> the company is not primarily interested in the freedom of Internet users,
> but rather in defending its own freedom against any government regulation
> of its monopoly-like power over the market and public opinion. This raises
> the question of whether such an approach does more harm than good to its
> own interests.*
>
> * *
>
> Well worth reading the whole article…****
>
> ** **
>
> M****
>
>
>
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