18.Aug.2009 Google ethics
For the last months I’ve been getting increasingly annoyed with font piracy. Tonight, I googled “Frutiger Arabic” and the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th google results were for piracy sites. Now isn’t this just mad? Am I the only one who thinks that Google has an ethical responsibility here? These sites show blatant disregard for intellectual property, and are promoting a culture of indifference and opportunism. Why can’t we “flag” these results like one can on Youtube? It seems to work so well there and Google is such an amazing service.
This brings up the question of Google ethics. Does Google have a moral and ethical responsibility or is it a plain and lifeless programming code that is ungoverned by law? If we know that a site is breaking the law, and Google, by giving it a high page rank, is unwittingly promoting it, would that make Google an accessory?
I think we’ve reached a point where we are almost completely dependent on either one of the search engines. It has become an integral part of our online lives. And when an entity plays such a big role in our daily lives, should it not be governed by our laws?
Just a thought.
(Also, this is only a personal thought. I don’t have my Linotype hat on :)
Bernd 
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