I was talking with friends over thanksgiving dinner about google (you can tell I can’t stop thinking about google!). We agreed that it is problematic that there is very little public discourse on google despite their increasing expansion into all areas of the cyberworld and it’s infrastructure. We were speculating why there is no public discourse:

1. Ignorance: Maybe people have no idea what are the implications of google’s expansion in our daily life. They don’t perhaps don’t realize that google tracks our search terms, serves advertising based on our email content, etc.
2. Fear: It’s interesting that there are no critical views on google among librarians or higher education. It’s possible that people think that there will be the possibility to work with Google in the future (University of CA and University of VA are two recent sign-ons) and they don’t want to jeapardize by criticizing them. Many academic institutions are already working with them and many others want to join the race.
3. Conflict of interest: A large number of people are already associated with Google in one way or another. So it is difficult if not illegal for those people who know best about google’s inner workings and practices to criticize those practices because of their position.

Whatever the reasons for the lack of public discourse, silence is not the solution. If ignorance is the reason then we have to find the way to educate our public and ourselves. If fear is preventing the public discourse then we need to create a community where we can engage in critical dialog and encourage people to discuss about how the decisions we make now will affect future generations of library users and the world’s citizens. If conflict of interest is the reason then we have to ask ourselves whose interests are being looked after?
I think this is the time and I hope we don’t wait too long.

Related posts:

1. The Information Commons: A Public Policy Report
2. Struggling with google
3. Reclaim the Public Domain

Lockheed Martin, the world largest military contactor, announced that the company received a $24.7 million Air Force contract that will let U.S. military commanders plan and carry out attack and recovery missions. More detail. According to Corporate Watch, Lockheed has influenced in supporting of the invasion of Iraq. Bruce Jackson, The company’s former vice-president, chaired the Coalition for the Liberation of Iraq, a bipartisan group formed to promote Bush’s plan for war in Iraq.

Related posts:

1. Nightline recites names of dead soldiers
2. Reality of Bush/Kerry supporters
3. PIPA study on Iraq and the pres. election