... And Google at Home

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] Google is fighting a Justice Department subpoena covering a huge swath of data about the Web sites the company indexes and the search terms its users submit. So unlike in China Google is casting itself as a defender of privacy against a snooping government, though in truth this is also a business calculation. Google has acquired a reputation in some quarters, fairly or not, for a vaguely Orwellian desire to gather as much information as it can about its users. Its business model depends on users' confidence that such information will not be misused, so turning it over to the government would be a blow to its image. The Justice Department is requesting reams of proprietary data from private companies to resolve a question that a commission set up under COPA has already answered, and not in the Bush Administration's favor. Under those circumstances, it's no wonder that both Google and the ACLU have raised concerns about the subpoena. Fortunately for Google, it is making this challenge in America, which has the rule of law, as well as a free press that might even take Google's side against the government. For that we should all be thankful, regardless of the outcome of Google's challenge.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113857763631159487.html?mod=todays_us_op...
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Also see:
G**gle in China...
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1213