Size Matters + Slippery Slope = Trouble Ahead (from: Steve Rubel)
http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/03/size_matters_sl.html
This morning I listened to a raging debate between Robert Scoble and Cory Doctorow that you can find here on IT Conversations.During the 46-minute program Doctorow, Scoble, trademark lawyer/blawgerMarty Schwimmer debate the ethics and legality of Google’s new ToolbarAutolink feature. Regular readers know I feel that Autolink violatesthe rights of content providers by inserting links they never intendedto create.
As I listened to the podcast, two phrases kept repeating in my head:1) "size matters" and 2) "slippery slope." These two issues underscorewhy Autolink is such a critical issue that could determine the futuredirection of online content. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
First, the reason that Google Autolink is important is because "sizematters." This isn’t just any company changing content. It’s aMicrosoftesque company with incredible reach and influence, not only onthe Web, but increasingly on the desktop too. Just take a gander at thecompany’s recent acquisitions - Keyhole and Picasa. Both are desktop apps. What’s more, take a look at the array of free downloadable software applicationsthey are launching. To me this means that Google has Microsoft in itssights. Google’s influence in our daily lives will become even biggerwhen they launch their rumored browser and perhaps build an operating system as well. A Google calendar is already reportedly in the works.
So if you buy into the fact that Google’s size gives it influence,then the next step is to consider what might happen if they get awaywith leaving Autolink as is. That’s like letting your kid steal candy.Once they see it’s kosher, they will do it again and again until oneday they’re stealing Chevy’s, not Charleston Chews. This is the"slippery slope" that Robert and others have so eloquently writtenabout. Allowing Google to insert links on ISBN numbers might seeminnocent - for now. But what if one day they use a Gbrowser to say tousers "Hey, we’ll change all your links back to us since you clearlylove us so much." On a mass level, this would change the Web forever.
Google needs to show they care about the content producers theydepend upon as much as the users by giving us opt outs. If they don’t,when you couple their size and the slippery slope, there’s no tellingwhat might come next.