Google has become the gatekeepers of the internet – Google more and more is refusing to remove links to websites, posts which cause irreparable harm to companies and individuals whether it be defamation or companies involved in illegal activity.
By way of google’s 80%+ share of the search engine market, google has become the defacto gatekeepers of the internet. A single company with over 50 billion in revenues decides on behalf of the world what information is accessible on the internet and what is not. This is too much power for one company. The public should be concerned of the overbearing power that Google has.
The court decision was justified in that the internet is limitless and worldwide and the harm to the company is impacted not only in Canada.
In Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick, [2002] H.C.A. 56 (10 December 2002), that same judge – Kirby J., of the High Court of Australia — portrayed the Internet in these terms, at para. 80: The Internet is essentially a decentralized, self-maintained telecommunications network. It is made up of inter-linking small networks from all parts of the world. It is ubiquitous, borderless, global and ambient in its nature. Hence the term “cyberspace”.4 This is a word that recognizes that the interrelationships created by the Internet exist outside conventional geographic boundaries and comprise a single interconnected body of data, potentially amounting to a single body of knowledge. The Internet is accessible in virtually all places on Earth where access can be obtained either by wire connection or by wireless (including satellite) links.
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Google has become the gatekeepers of the internet
Google has become the gatekeepers of the internet – Google more and
more is refusing to remove links to websites, posts which cause
irreparable harm to companies and individuals whether it be defamation
or companies involved in illegal activity.
By way of google’s 80%+ share of the search engine market, google has become the defacto gatekeepers of the internet. A single company with over 50 billion in
revenues decides on behalf of the world what information is accessible
on the internet and what is not. This is too much power for one company.
The public should be concerned of the overbearing power that Google
has.
The court decision was justified in that the internet is
limitless and worldwide and the harm to the company is impacted not only
in Canada.
In Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick, [2002]
H.C.A. 56 (10 December 2002), that same judge – Kirby J., of the High
Court of Australia — portrayed the Internet in these terms, at para. 80:
The
Internet is essentially a decentralized, self-maintained
telecommunications network. It is made up of inter-linking small
networks from all parts of the world. It is ubiquitous, borderless,
global and ambient in its nature. Hence the term “cyberspace”.4 This is a
word that recognizes that the interrelationships created by the
Internet exist outside conventional geographic boundaries and comprise a
single interconnected body of data, potentially amounting to a single
body of knowledge. The Internet is accessible in virtually all places on
Earth where access can be obtained either by wire connection or by
wireless (including satellite) links.