Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google's Sergey Brin

[Vehl]

Last edited Sun Apr 15, 2012, 01:30 PM - Edit history (1)

The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.In an interview with the Guardian, Brin warned that there were "very powerful forces that have lined up against the open internet on all sides and around the world. I am more worried than I have been in the past … it's scary."

He said the threat to the freedom of the internet came from a combination of governments increasingly trying to control access and communication by their citizens, the entertainment industry attempting to crack down on piracy, and the rise of "restrictive" so-called walled gardens such as Facebook and Apple, which tightly controlled what software could be released on their platforms.

The 38-year-old billionaire, whose family fled antisemitism in the Soviet Union, was widely regarded as having been the driving force behind Google's partial pullout from China in 2010 over concerns about censorship and cyber-attacks.

He said five years ago he did not believe China or any country could effectively restrict the internet for long but he had been proven wrong: "I thought there was no way to put the genie back in the bottle, but now it seems in certain areas the genie has been put back in the bottle."

more here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/15/web-freedom-threat-google-brin

Sergey (& Page too) is probably one of the few top tech CEO's nowadays who are concerned about these kinds of stuff.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Behind Google Inc.'s shuttering of its China-based search engine earlier this week was a conscientious decision by its co-founder Sergey Brin to stop compromising with a government that was increasingly interfering with its business, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Wednesday. Brin told the newspaper that after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government began to step up its Web censoring and interfering more with Google's operation. But more than anything else, Brin was moved to take the dramatic steps because of China's repressive behavior which reminded him of his native Soviet Union which he fled when he was a child, according to the Journal. "He says memories of that time--having his home visited by Russian police; the anti-Semitic discrimination against his father--emboldened his view that it was time to abandon Google's policy," the newspaper reported.

Check his TED talk about Chinese government's actions and why he(Sergey) shuttered the Chinese operations of Google because of it.

Sergey Brin on Google's China decision
http://blog.ted.com/2010/02/24/our_focus_has_b/

[msongs]

1. this from google, which makes every effort to restrict users, spy on them, date strip mine them lol

[Vehl]

2. not defending them

But I can use any Google service without revealing my identity..and so can you. It also allows one to put oneself in the "do not track list" which would not only stop Google tracking any browsing histories, but also purge any info accumulated till that date. What other major company provides the user with such options?

Unlike Facebook and others which "require" you to use your own name.

btw what restriction?

[Zalatix]

5. Can you keep them from photographing your house and putting it online?

[Zalatix]

4. I hear that. China and America's Governments want to censor, but Google wants to spy.

One threat is acidic, the other is caustic.

[Egalitarian Thug]

3. This is important. K&R.

Political campaigns 7 months before the election, the idiocy in Floriduh, off-hand truth-bombs made by ruling class lackeys, etc, are distractions.