Google and Censorship Update - Latest

[ravan]

Well, now the error message has changed, and is a bit more explanatory.

It was "This video is not playable in your country.", now it is "We're sorry, but the provider of this video, not Google, has chosen to disable playback in your location.".

The fact that this can be enabled, however, still doesn't say much for Google. It makes censorship a "click" away.

However, it isn't government censorship, although it could be used for such.

Comments

[trogula.livejournal.com]

Remember: at least with government censorship, the government is somewhat accountable to the voters, and thus, can be more easily overcome.

Corporations are accountable only to significant shareholders and executives, if they act within the law. Thus, corporate censorship is far worse than government censorship, as you have little to no recource in overcoming it.

Government censorship is a distraction and non-issue in America - it is corporate censorship that is the real problem, and Americans have been trained to ignore this (Your statement, "However, it isn't government censorship, although it could be used for such." PERFECTLY illustrates this fact).

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. considering how Google got spammed over this it just proves that they do listen to their users!

[ravan.livejournal.com]

The problem is, there is no law against corporate censorship, unfortunately. The first amendment covers the right of people to speak without "congress" making laws against it.

Companies can, and do, make policies for employees and the public all the time. You're right, we have no recourse to overcome it - except boycotts, competition, and getting a strong voting bloc of stock (lots of people with cash who think the same way.) These often are not enough against organizations that are so large that they dwarf the size of most state governments.

AT&T recently came back together, under SBC. Microsoft has more control over what you see or do on your computer than Uncle Sam does.

The government is usually beholden to the corporations, anyway, via lobbyists. It hasn't really answer to the people in years.