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Miniryu · Jan 20, 2006, 11:47 AM

What do people think? Google says they're protecting their customers, the Goobement says they're protecting kids, and legal access to online pornography hangs in the balance. Where do you stand?

hickey · Jan 20, 2006, 12:01 PM

I kind of like the fact that google is standing their ground and not giving up personal info just because the gov't decided they wanted it. Even though google will probably be forced to give up in the end, its nice to see they tried.

andreas_g4 · Jan 20, 2006, 03:01 PM

Seeing what Google does in terms of cooperation with the chinese government, I don't think their interest is genuine. They just don't want bad PR, that's it.

olePigeon · Jan 20, 2006, 03:14 PM

Maybe they should change their motto from "Do no evil." to "Do it doggy style."

wdlove · Jan 20, 2006, 08:00 PM

A very difficult choice. Children do need to be protected, but parents need to be aware of sites that their child visits.

hayesk · Jan 20, 2006, 08:56 PM

Before the Internet, kids had easy access to pornography anyway. Blocking access (which I don't see how search records will do) will not substitute good parenting.

Miniryu · Jan 20, 2006, 10:29 PM

I'm not familiar with Google's relationship with the Chinese government- care to enlighten us?

As far as the Bush administration's "desire" to protect children, this move seems more in line with their efforts to abolish pornography period, as well as set precedence for the governmental power they have over the internet. Today they want personal identifiers removed from the informatin, but tomorrow they may be asking a whole lot more. Its called a Foot-in-Door technique, anyone who has worked in sales is very familiar with how it works and how effective it is.

I agree with wdlove and hayesk that it is parents' responsibilities to monitor their own children. Its not hard to check the internet cache to see where your children have been online. If they delete the cache, tell them their online privilages have been suspended until you can see where they have been. When I m a parent I don't plan to let my children online in the first place unless I or my partner are watching the screen (or have a mirrored monitor elsewhere in the house)- I know about predators and such using AIM etc. to meet kids.

Bottom line: Google is protecting the privacy of their clients from Big Brother. Good for them, I hope more people flock to their service and their stock soars.

Miniryu · Jan 20, 2006, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by hayesk

Before the Internet, kids had easy access to pornography anyway.

Did we? My friends and I used to watch scrambled porn, I wouldn't call that the best access.

Kevin · Jan 20, 2006, 10:45 PM

Been posted in the PL already.

hayesk · Jan 21, 2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by Miniryu

Did we? My friends and I used to watch scrambled porn, I wouldn't call that the best access.

You probably new someone who's dad kept porn in his basement, but you just didn't know about it. Or you could have just gotten a guy to rent some for you.

And again, good parenting is the solution, not censorship.

hickey · Jan 21, 2006, 12:08 PM

I totally agree with the good parenting fact, nothing can substitute that. If my parents knew how much porn I was looking at online when I was still there, I doubt I would have ever been near the comp again.