hanif_x90
دوشنبه 17 فروردین 1388, 10:24 صبح
The ever-growing empire produces nothing but seems determined to control everything
If indeed a new era of global responsibility has come into being with measures that actually restrain banks and isolate tax havens, it may be time for the planet's dominant economic powers to focus on the destructive, anti-civic forces of the internet. Exactly 20 years after Sir Tim Berners-Lee wrote the blueprint for the world wide web, the internet has become the host to a small number of dangerous WWMs - worldwide monopolies that sweep all before them with exuberant contempt for people's rights, their property and the past.
Google is the most prominent WWM, but let's start with an American site that is making a name for itself in straightforward misappropriation. Scribd.com offers free downloads of every kind of book, magazine, brochure, guide, research paper and pamphlet to 55 million readers every month. Many have been uploaded illegally. Last week the publishers of JK Rowling, Ken Follett and Aravind Adiga took action to remove books that had been illegally published on the site.
Scribd.com complied, but what is interesting is the company's institutional lack of guilt when the piracy was exposed. Instead of admitting it and apologising, it issued a statement claiming Scribd possessed "industry-leading copyright management system which goes above and beyond requirements of Digital Millennium Copyright Act".
That's like a drunk driver protesting innocence because he's covered by the best insurance company. What matters is the crime, the theft of someone else's content, which has taken care, labour, money and expertise to publish.
The point is that even if Scribd removes books, it still allows individuals to advertise services for delivering pirated books by email, which must make it the enemy of every writer and publisher in the world. In effect it has turned copyright law on its head: instead of asking publishers for permission, it requires them to object if and when they become aware of a breach.
Google presents a far greater threat to the livelihood of individuals and the future of commercial institutions important to the community. One case emerged last week when a letter from Billy Bragg, Robin Gibb and other songwriters was published in the Times explaining that Google was playing very rough with those who appeared on its subsidiary, YouTube. When the Performing Rights Society demanded more money for music videos streamed from the website, Google reacted by refusing to pay the requested 0.22p per play and took down the videos of the artists concerned.
It does this with impunity because it is dominant worldwide and knows the songwriters have nowhere else to go. Google is the portal to a massive audience: you comply with its terms or feel the weight of its boot on your windpipe.
Despite the aura of heroic young enterprise that still miraculously attaches to the web, what we are seeing is a much older and toxic capitalist model - the classic monopoly that destroys industries and individual enterprise in its bid for ever greater profits. Despite its diversification, Google is in the final analysis a parasite that creates nothing, merely offering little aggregation, lists and the ordering of information generated by people who have invested their capital, skill and time. On the back of the labour of others it makes vast advertising revenues - in the final quarter of last year its revenues were $5.7bn, and it currently sits on a cash pile of $8.6bn. Its monopolistic tendencies took an extra twist this weekend with rumours that it may buy the micro-blogging site Twitter and its plans - contested by academics - to scan a vast library of books that are out of print but still in copyright.
One of the chief casualties of the web revolution is the newspaper business, which now finds itself laden with debt (not Google's fault) and having to give its content free to the search engine in order to survive. Newspapers can of course remove their content but then their own advertising revenues and profiles decline. In effect they are being held captive and tormented by their executioner, who has the gall to insist that the relationship is mutually beneficial. Were newspapers to combine to take on Google they would be almost certainly in breach of competition law.
In 1787 Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter." A moment's thought must tell us that he is still right: newspapers are the only means of holding local hospitals, schools, councils and the police to account, and on a national level they are absolutely essential for the good functioning of democracy.
If, at a time of profound challenges, newspapers fall out with Google, it could be pretty serious for British society, which is why I referred earlier to anti-civic forces. Of course the company founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998 - now reckoned to be the world's most powerful brand - does not offer any substitute for the originators of content nor does it allow this to touch its corporate conscience. That is probably because one detects in Google something that is delinquent and sociopathic, perhaps the character of a nightmarish 11-year-old.
This particular 11-year-old has known nothing but success and does not understand the risks, skill and failure involved in the creation of original content, nor the delicate relationships that exist outside its own desires and experience. There is a brattish, clever amorality about Google that allows it to censor the pages on its Chinese service without the slightest self doubt, store vast quantities of unnecessary information about every Google search, and menace the delicate instruments of democratic scrutiny. And, naturally, it did not exercise Google executives that Street View not only invaded the privacy of millions and made the job of burglars easier but somehow laid claim to Britain's civic spaces. How gratifying to hear of the villagers of Broughton, Bucks, who prevented the Google van from taking pictures of their homes.
We could do worse than follow their example for this brat needs to be stopped in its tracks and taught about the responsibilities it owes to content providers and copyright holders.
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About this articleClose Henry Porter: Google is just an amoral menaceThis article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 00.01 BST on Sunday 5 April 2009. It appeared in the Observer on Sunday 5 April 2009 on p27 of the Comment section. It was last updated at 00.09 BST on Sunday 5 April 2009. Most viewed on guardian.co.uk24 hours 7 days Most talked about 24 hours1. Where are they now? Tom Meltzer tracks down the actors from some landmark television shows 2. Premier League: Manchester United 3-2 Aston Villa 3. John Crace: The question that flummoxed the great orator 4. Police 'assaulted' bystander who died during G20 protests 5. For Steve Bruce in 1993, read Federico Macheda in Manchester United's almanac of late goals More top stories 7 days1. Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink 2. John Crace: The question that flummoxed the great orator 3. G20 protests erupt in London 4. Taliban hand out 37 lashes to girl seen with married man 5. Michelle Obama's fashion face-off with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy More top stories Most talked about <ol>
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منبع (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/05/google-internet-piracy/print)
If indeed a new era of global responsibility has come into being with measures that actually restrain banks and isolate tax havens, it may be time for the planet's dominant economic powers to focus on the destructive, anti-civic forces of the internet. Exactly 20 years after Sir Tim Berners-Lee wrote the blueprint for the world wide web, the internet has become the host to a small number of dangerous WWMs - worldwide monopolies that sweep all before them with exuberant contempt for people's rights, their property and the past.
Google is the most prominent WWM, but let's start with an American site that is making a name for itself in straightforward misappropriation. Scribd.com offers free downloads of every kind of book, magazine, brochure, guide, research paper and pamphlet to 55 million readers every month. Many have been uploaded illegally. Last week the publishers of JK Rowling, Ken Follett and Aravind Adiga took action to remove books that had been illegally published on the site.
Scribd.com complied, but what is interesting is the company's institutional lack of guilt when the piracy was exposed. Instead of admitting it and apologising, it issued a statement claiming Scribd possessed "industry-leading copyright management system which goes above and beyond requirements of Digital Millennium Copyright Act".
That's like a drunk driver protesting innocence because he's covered by the best insurance company. What matters is the crime, the theft of someone else's content, which has taken care, labour, money and expertise to publish.
The point is that even if Scribd removes books, it still allows individuals to advertise services for delivering pirated books by email, which must make it the enemy of every writer and publisher in the world. In effect it has turned copyright law on its head: instead of asking publishers for permission, it requires them to object if and when they become aware of a breach.
Google presents a far greater threat to the livelihood of individuals and the future of commercial institutions important to the community. One case emerged last week when a letter from Billy Bragg, Robin Gibb and other songwriters was published in the Times explaining that Google was playing very rough with those who appeared on its subsidiary, YouTube. When the Performing Rights Society demanded more money for music videos streamed from the website, Google reacted by refusing to pay the requested 0.22p per play and took down the videos of the artists concerned.
It does this with impunity because it is dominant worldwide and knows the songwriters have nowhere else to go. Google is the portal to a massive audience: you comply with its terms or feel the weight of its boot on your windpipe.
Despite the aura of heroic young enterprise that still miraculously attaches to the web, what we are seeing is a much older and toxic capitalist model - the classic monopoly that destroys industries and individual enterprise in its bid for ever greater profits. Despite its diversification, Google is in the final analysis a parasite that creates nothing, merely offering little aggregation, lists and the ordering of information generated by people who have invested their capital, skill and time. On the back of the labour of others it makes vast advertising revenues - in the final quarter of last year its revenues were $5.7bn, and it currently sits on a cash pile of $8.6bn. Its monopolistic tendencies took an extra twist this weekend with rumours that it may buy the micro-blogging site Twitter and its plans - contested by academics - to scan a vast library of books that are out of print but still in copyright.
One of the chief casualties of the web revolution is the newspaper business, which now finds itself laden with debt (not Google's fault) and having to give its content free to the search engine in order to survive. Newspapers can of course remove their content but then their own advertising revenues and profiles decline. In effect they are being held captive and tormented by their executioner, who has the gall to insist that the relationship is mutually beneficial. Were newspapers to combine to take on Google they would be almost certainly in breach of competition law.
In 1787 Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter." A moment's thought must tell us that he is still right: newspapers are the only means of holding local hospitals, schools, councils and the police to account, and on a national level they are absolutely essential for the good functioning of democracy.
If, at a time of profound challenges, newspapers fall out with Google, it could be pretty serious for British society, which is why I referred earlier to anti-civic forces. Of course the company founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998 - now reckoned to be the world's most powerful brand - does not offer any substitute for the originators of content nor does it allow this to touch its corporate conscience. That is probably because one detects in Google something that is delinquent and sociopathic, perhaps the character of a nightmarish 11-year-old.
This particular 11-year-old has known nothing but success and does not understand the risks, skill and failure involved in the creation of original content, nor the delicate relationships that exist outside its own desires and experience. There is a brattish, clever amorality about Google that allows it to censor the pages on its Chinese service without the slightest self doubt, store vast quantities of unnecessary information about every Google search, and menace the delicate instruments of democratic scrutiny. And, naturally, it did not exercise Google executives that Street View not only invaded the privacy of millions and made the job of burglars easier but somehow laid claim to Britain's civic spaces. How gratifying to hear of the villagers of Broughton, Bucks, who prevented the Google van from taking pictures of their homes.
We could do worse than follow their example for this brat needs to be stopped in its tracks and taught about the responsibilities it owes to content providers and copyright holders.
Printable versionSend to a friendShareClipContact us larger | smaller EmailClose Recipient's email address Your first name Your surname Add a note (optional)
Your IP address will be logged
ShareClose Digg reddit Google Bookmarks Yahoo! My Web del.icio.us StumbleUpon Newsvine livejournal Facebook BlinkList Contact usClose Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@observer.co.uk Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@observer.co.uk If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
+44 (0)20 3353 2000 Advertising guide License/buy our content TechnologyGoogle · Internet · Piracy · Twitter BooksEbooks UK newsWorld newsCultureMediaObserverMore commentRelated
4 Mar 2009First Look: Amazon launches Kindle iPhone app
12 Feb 2009Newly asked questions: When will we see the Amazon Kindle ebook in Britain?
9 Feb 2009Why aren't ebooks taking off? Not enough pirates
27 Jul 2008Peter Conrad makes the case against ebooks
Printable versionSend to a friendShareClipContact usArticle history
EmailClose Recipient's email address Your first name Your surname Add a note (optional)
Your IP address will be logged
ShareClose Digg reddit Google Bookmarks Yahoo! My Web del.icio.us StumbleUpon Newsvine livejournal Facebook BlinkList
Contact usClose Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@observer.co.uk Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@observer.co.uk If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
+44 (0)20 3353 2000 Advertising guide License/buy our content
About this articleClose Henry Porter: Google is just an amoral menaceThis article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 00.01 BST on Sunday 5 April 2009. It appeared in the Observer on Sunday 5 April 2009 on p27 of the Comment section. It was last updated at 00.09 BST on Sunday 5 April 2009. Most viewed on guardian.co.uk24 hours 7 days Most talked about 24 hours1. Where are they now? Tom Meltzer tracks down the actors from some landmark television shows 2. Premier League: Manchester United 3-2 Aston Villa 3. John Crace: The question that flummoxed the great orator 4. Police 'assaulted' bystander who died during G20 protests 5. For Steve Bruce in 1993, read Federico Macheda in Manchester United's almanac of late goals More top stories 7 days1. Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink 2. John Crace: The question that flummoxed the great orator 3. G20 protests erupt in London 4. Taliban hand out 37 lashes to girl seen with married man 5. Michelle Obama's fashion face-off with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy More top stories Most talked about <ol>
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{/if}>
<span class="rank">${parseInt(blog_item_index) + 1}.</span>
<p>
<a href="${blog_item.link.linkhref}"> ${blog_item.article.title} </a>
<b><a href="http://technorati.com/search/${blog_item.link.linkhref}?partnerid=440">(${blog_item.linkcount}{if blog_item_index == 0} technorati links{/if})</a></b>
</p>
</li>
{/for}
</ol>
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Gadgets from the Guardian shop Daewoo DVD/VHS recorder with FreeviewPlay and record VHS, DVD, camcorder-recordings or Freeview DTV.
From: £219.95
Browse more technology productsVisit the Guardian reader offers shopcomment is free…Latest posts 6hr 18min ago Real debates about faith are drowned by the New Atheists' foghorn voices Madeleine Bunting: More thoughtful sceptics warn that we should fear the consequences of the swift collapse of Britain's major belief system
6hr 30min ago Open door Siobhain Butterworth: The readers' editor on ... April foolishness
Free P&P at the Guardian bookshop Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire£20.00 with free UK delivery Settler's Cookbook£20.00 with free UK deliveryBrowse the bestsellers lists Buy books from the Guardian Bookshop Sponsored features UK USA UK Browse all jobs
European Editorial Director - Brusselsformula-won recruitment. brussels. Generous salary + bens + re-location costs.
Quality Assurance (QA) Testerguardian news and media. keen to work in an agile development environment,…. Unspecified.
Web Convergence Project Manageraquent digital. a great opportunity to work within central governm…. Up to £400 per day.
USA Browse all jobs
Project Manager - Constructioncommercial, government and telecom sectors. wwt is a... manage the planning, procurement and deployment of it solutions. based in st. louis, wwt works closely... . ak.
AMCI - EAS BI Solution Architectmanufacturing, telecoms, automotive and other key industries, including extended manufacturing, financial services, networking, it, crm and e-commerce... . de.
Telecom Sales Representativeshould possess: • telecom sales experience preferred... past experience and availability. high-achieving telecom sales reps can expect to make $85,000 or more in... . fl.
Related informationTechnologyGoogle · Internet · Piracy · Twitter BooksEbooks UK newsWorld newsCultureMediaObserver
Watch an anti-piracy ad spoofing Lord of the Rings
2 Apr 2009:
Campaign by Industry Trust for IP Awareness aimed at discouraging coypright theft through the message that the public 'makes the movies'
More video
8 May 2008Cheap ebook reader wanted!
12 Dec 2005E-readers for e-books?
8 May 2004E-bookworm
6 May 2004Ebook Times
Ebook readers
23 Nov 2007: With the release of Amazon's Kindle, it's time to take a look back at the history of ebook devices
More galleries
License/buy our content | Privacy policy | Terms & conditions | Advertising guide | Accessibility | A-Z index | Inside guardian.co.uk blog | About guardian.co.uk | Join our dating site today
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
منبع (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/05/google-internet-piracy/print)