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Google Goes to Washington
DIY News writes "Google has hired a lobbyist in Washington D.C. to influence the nation's laws governing the Internet, telecommunications and copyrights. Google sees a presence in Washington as a necessity as government becomes more involved in the Net's development. Among its efforts, the government has worked to shield private U.S. companies from demands by the United Nations and other countries for multilateral control of the Net."
lets add it up.
3 &tid=217&tid=103 ... thumbs up
5 4&tid=217&tid=1 ... Thumbs Up
5 8&tid=217
1 5&tid=217&tid=109
/ 04/1655204&tid=217&tid=219
2 9&tid=102&tid=217
5 7258&tid=185&tid=217&tid=218 ... Thumbs Up
/ 02/0023257&tid=217&tid=219
0 1/1714241&tid=217&tid=14
0 5&tid=217&tid=193
3 4&tid=217&tid=187&tid=109
:D
Google Goes To Washington
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/08/13322
well it might be nice for someone to be doing no evil there for a change so
Google Launches Google Reader at Web 2.0
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/07/19522
Cool new google app
Google Maps Graduates
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/07/14202
SOmething comes out og Beta Testing... Thumbs Up
Google Declares War on Microsoft
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/06/12502
War on Microsoft, THUMBS UP
Taiwan Irked at Google's Version of Earth
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10
Pissing off chinese... Thumbs Down
Google & Sun Planning Web Office
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/04/12342
Hype but none the less a pretty big deal going down with sun... Shrug
Google Office Still in the Wings?
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/03/10
Awesome Idea (even though it didnt happen)
Google-NASA Partnership Backlash
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10
Possibly not doing no evil... Thumbs down
Google Ant
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/
mmmm Taxonomical Fun... Thumbs Up
Google Plans to Offer Free WiFi in San Francisco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/01/13162
Free Wifi.. Thumbs Up
Google's Patents Reveal Strategy To Beat Microsoft
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/01/08312
Kicking MS... Thumbs up.
Well it seems based on the statistics... We still like google this week... stay tuned next week folks
XML - A clever joke would be here if
The article title is misleading. Google has had lobbyists on tap in Washington for quite awhile. Google is is also a member of trade groups (e.g. - NetCoalition) which do a substantial amount of lobbying on behalf of the search/tech/ad/etc industries. They're opening an actual government relations office now - a big step up from hiring a few lobbyists who split their time with other clients.
Senate lobbying disclosures here.
House lobbying disclosures here.
Google goes to Washington
10/06/2005 07:09:00 AM
Posted by Andrew McLaughlin, Senior Policy Counsel
It seems that policymaking and regulatory activity in Washington, D.C. affect Google and our users more every day. It's important to be involved - to participate in the policy process and contribute to the debates that inform it. So we've opened up a shop there. The first member of our Washington team is Alan Davidson, a veteran thinker and advocate for issues we care about.
Our mission in Washington boils down to this: Defend the Internet as a free and open platform for information, communication and innovation. OK, that sounds a little high and mighty, so let me break it down into something a bit wonkier with a sampling of the U.S. policy issues we're working on:
Net neutrality. As voice, video, and data rapidly converge, Congress is rewriting U.S. telecommunications laws and deregulating broadband connectivity, which is largely a good thing. But in a country where most citizens have only one or two viable broadband options, there are real dangers for the Internet: Should network operators be able to block their customers from reaching competing websites and services (such as Internet voice calls and video-on-demand)? Should they be able to speed up their own sites and services, while degrading those offered by competitors? Should an innovator with a new online service or application be forced to get permission from each broadband cable and DSL provider before rolling it out? Or, if that's not blunt enough for you, what's better: [a] Centralized control by network operators, or [b] free user choice on the decentralized, open, and astoundingly successful end-to-end Internet? (Hint: It's not [a].)
Copyrights and fair use. Google believes in protecting copyrights while maintaining strong, viable fair use rights in this new digital age. We support efforts by the U.S. Copyright Office to facilitate the use of orphan works (works whose rights-holders can't be found), while fully respecting the interests of creators. We applauded the Supreme Court's carefully calibrated decision in the Grokster case, but worked to defeat legislation that would have created new forms of liability for neutral technologies and services like Google.
Intermediary liability. As a search engine, Google crawls the Internet, gathering information everywhere we can find it. We're a neutral tool that allows users to find information posted by others - like a continuously updated table of contents for the Internet. Not surprisingly, we don't believe the Internet works well if intermediaries and ISPs are held liable for things created by others but made searchable through us. That's why Google will continue to oppose efforts to force us to block or limit lawful speech; instead, we focus on providing users the information, tools, and features (such as SafeSearch) they need to protect themselves online.
This is just a taste. We're also engaged in policy debates over privacy and spyware, trademark dilution, patent law reform, voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) regulation, and more. The Internet policy world is fluid, so our priorities will surely morph over time. And, of course, Google is a global company. In a future post, we'll introduce you to some of the policy issues we're confronting outside the U.S.