This isn't a diatribe against Google. One of their guiding mottos is
> 'don't be evil'. I've not seen a case where Google has been caught
> with their hand in the cookie jar -- so they have the benefit of the
> doubt. Real Networks is evil, Doubleclick is evil, but not Google --
> yet. Data mining, enriched by the contents of person mail, can build
> personal dossiers that have enormous economic value. The business
> case is compelling. When they do, will that be evil? To me,
> certainly. To a corporate executive, the driving ethic is to maximize
> value and revenue -- failure to do so is evil. Viewpoint is
> everything -- and we need to guide our decisions and practices
> accordingly.
And to add another twist to this debate. I've discovered that "evil" isn't a well defined term. In fact I've been in discussions with well educated folks and none of us can agree on the meaning of the term. Things one of us would think as perfectly acceptable the other would consider "evil".
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mr. Alberto Gonzales, Bush's head of the Justice Department was quoted a couple days ago asking the question (regards Search Engines) "why is Google continuing to stall like this?" (and later in the same conversation with the reporter stating) "We are not going to permit Google to stall like this! We will get the information we want (desire? need?) They will be forced to give it up". PAT]