A few days ago, Google's official response to the DoJ was posted on the Google Blog.
According to Google, among the reasons they are refusing to comply is because they are trying "to protect their trade secrets and proprietary systems". They add that complying with the request would be a great technological burden, and possibly create legal risks.
There is only a single mention of concern for its users' privacy - and that concern is not based any moral grounds: they merely fear any liabilities for violating their privacy policy.
Note: I'm not critizing Google for this. Their actions are entirely reasonable; after all, Google is not a charity, it is a company. I'm just sick of all the "Google does this, Google does that" media hype distorting reality. If you're going to put Google on a stand for its China decision or any privacy-related issues, do the same for the others among the "Big-Five" search engines. I own Google stock myself; I don't care if you idealized Google and your dreams burst, I want my investment protected.
AFAIK, Area 51 is situated at Groom Lake, NW of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Zoom in on the dry lake I've centered, you should find the airstrip as well as the buildings.
Area 51
Slashdot Mirror
A few days ago, Google's official response to the DoJ was posted on the Google Blog.
According to Google, among the reasons they are refusing to comply is because they are trying "to protect their trade secrets and proprietary systems". They add that complying with the request would be a great technological burden, and possibly create legal risks.
There is only a single mention of concern for its users' privacy - and that concern is not based any moral grounds: they merely fear any liabilities for violating their privacy policy.
Note: I'm not critizing Google for this. Their actions are entirely reasonable; after all, Google is not a charity, it is a company. I'm just sick of all the "Google does this, Google does that" media hype distorting reality. If you're going to put Google on a stand for its China decision or any privacy-related issues, do the same for the others among the "Big-Five" search engines. I own Google stock myself; I don't care if you idealized Google and your dreams burst, I want my investment protected.
AFAIK, Area 51 is situated at Groom Lake, NW of Las Vegas, Nevada. Zoom in on the dry lake I've centered, you should find the airstrip as well as the buildings. Area 51