22 March 2002

More on Google Google last night apparently restored Xenu.net to its site. Congratulations both to Google and, I believe, to the hundreds, if not thousands of weblogs who were up in arms over this act of censorship. Of the major media sites, only CNN seems to have picked up a Reuters story -- and the CNN piece (discovered, needless to say, through Google's own news search) ran after the weblog storm.   The definitive reporting on the Google-Scientology dispute (see below) that I've found is on Microcontent News. The author, John Hiler, was originally going to take a tough line on Google, but he reckons they would have risked the business by taking on the Church of Scientology and effectively challenging the DMCA. "Deleting information from the Google Cache would be like stealing holy icons out of the Vatican. Google is well aware of this perception -- but of course, needs to balance this with its own fiduciary responsibilities."   6:05:29 PM

Stifling free speech There are so many weblogs writing about technology and Internet issues that I usually stick to my home ground of global affairs. But Dave Winer highlights two recent developments where our worlds collide. First, he singles out the bizarre decision of Google to delete a Norwegian site critical of Scientology because the Scientologists claim the site violates their copyright. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), ISPs can be held liable for copyright violations. Responding to the Scientologists claim absolves Google of any liability. First, as Dave details, a Norwegian site is not subject to the provisions of an American law. Nor, it seems, does it contain any copyright violation. That's disturbing enough. I'm equally perturbed by Google's action. There's a great tradition in both the US and Britain (I'm less familiar with other jurisdictions) of media sticking up for their right to publish. It can, of course, mean going to court to defend that right, and Google, a young, stretched company, may have quailed at the extremely deep pockets of the Scientologists. But there's a very important principle that Google should have quickly understood needed defending. Google, run by Eric Schmidt who I believe has the global perspective to understand these issues (not true of all technology CEOs), should have told the Church of Scientology to get stuffed. I am certain that many, many supporters of free speech would have helped this action. Dave also highlights a bill introduced in the US Senate to require all computers to incorporate digital rights management. As Dave, a profoundly good programmer, says, it's reminiscent of when the Indiana state legislature tried to pass a law decreeing that pi equals three. 9:24:11 AM

© Copyright 2002 Lance Knobel.