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You are hereGoogle's CEO: "Do you believe we have good values?" -- or could they be sub-prime values?
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2008-11-24 12:29
Google's CEO Eric Schmidt met with the New York Times Editorial Board last week, most likely on a charm offensive in response to the Rosenkranz Foundation oxford-style debate about whether or not "Google violates its 'Don't be evil' motto."
Once again, Google is truly its own worst enemy.
The evidence is substantial that Google does not live up to the 'good values' or ethics expected of public corporations.
What about one of Google's most touted values -- being open?
What about being a 'good' corporate citizen as is implied in Google's 'Don't be evil' motto?
The newspaper that broke the Pentagon papers and the veracity of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, understands the need for stress-testing the assertions of trustworthiness of those on which the public depends. The newspaper that vigorously investigated the Enron and Long Term Capital scandals understands the serious repurcussions of completely trusting any company which encourages the characterization that they are "the smartest people in the room." The newspaper that investigated the WorldCom scandal understands the far-reaching damage that ignoring conflicts of interest can have on innocent people. The newspaper that is considered the newspaper of record of the Fourth Estate, understands the threat to a free press of ceding its independence to amateur citizen journalists who most all work/depend on Google's omnimediaplatform of GoogleNews, Blogger, Knol, YouTube, and Feedburner. Bottom line: Google's CEO Eric Schmidt is asking the media and average people if Google has 'good values' -- implying if Google does have "good values" Google should be implicitly trusted with the world's information and people's privacy. If Google's leader claims the reason the seven hundred million people that use Google can trust Google is that they have "good values" -- isn't it incumbent on the Fourth Estate in part to confirm if that representation is in fact true -- especially given that Google is subject to so little competition, oversight, or check and balance of any kind? In sum, are Google's values and checks and balances prime or sub-prime? It matters. » |