What did Google Do For Presidents’ Day? DoJ, China and More
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Written By Reprise Media | February 21, 2006 | Share This
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Well, we’re back today from our Presidents’ Day hiatus. But unlike us, the Google juggernaut seems to require neither sustenance nor rest (even for dead presidents), so we’ve got a lot to cover regarding Big G:
Get Up, Stand Up Friday, Google’s blog posted an excerpt (and a link to the full-text in PDF) of the company’s official defense explaining its refusal to fulfill the Department of Justice’s request for search data. In sum, Google says: the DoJ “falls woefully short” in proving that the info would lead to admissable evidence; turning over the search query data would undermine Google’s credibility among ‘net users and lead to a loss of business; giving up the information in question would compromise Google’s trade secrets. ‘Nuff said…now it’s the DoJ’s turn. If they don’t blink, we’ll see how this plays out in the courts.
“Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?” It’s no secret that Google’s been taking plenty of flak in the worldwide press over its decision to censor its Chinese search results. Now it turns out that they’re also irking Chinese papers. Reuters reports that the Beijing News and others have accused Google of operating Google.cn without a license, which has gotten the Ministry of Information Industry on Google’s back. The search giant denies, saying their paperwork is in order through their partnership with Ganji.com. Meanwhile the China Business Times is annoyed that Google tells users whenever a search result has been censored, likening the search giant to a rude dinner guest who informs the host each time the “dishes” - or local censorship laws - “don’t suit his taste.” Since Google’s China policy is ticking everybody off, they must either be doing something right - or some things wrong.
Security, yeah yeah In a not-so-instant replay of Google’s admission that their video service wasn’t quite ready for the big time, News.com reports that Google now agrees its Desktop 3 update isn’t exactly airtight, particularly for businesses. The service allows computers to search for information on any machine sharing the same network, but the info must first be transferred to Google for indexing and held there for up to a month. Research company Gartner said this could lead to employees involuntarily leaking or stumbling across key company information they shouldn’t be able to access. Google cries mea culpa, agreeing that the software poses unecessary security risks. They recommend instead that businesses use Google Desktop for Enterprise, which allows administrators to disable the sharing function. Meanwhile, Google Blogoscoped points to a security bug in Google Book Search that could allow others to access your Google Account.
Braille touchscreen interface still a ways off, guys Threadwatch points to a story about accessibility advocates who are taking Google to task for its visually-exclusive verification system. In order to create accounts, change passwords or interact with blogs in Google, users must first get past a “captcha,” those words in warped fonts that users identify and enter into a text field. Although such measures successfully block out spam-bots, they also block the visually-impaired - and Google currently offers these folks no alternative. Want to help give Google an eye-ful? Sign the online petition.
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