As "googling" becomes the most common way most people obtain information, I believe we do need some means to provide for this need w/o private enterprise, and lots of new regulations to defend the users, e.g. in case of Facebook. Persons' private data has become an acceptable good traded silently behind the scenes. The industry needs to gain a means to maintain the quality of software, and basic software needs must be guaranteed by those who we appoint to furnish us roads, electricity and water. WRT nationalisation, well, nations are slowly becoming obsolete as globalisation progresses, and what is most apt instead is that we engineer a globally distributed system at least for search.
We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
61–70 of 237 posts
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#62Actually, I think behind the nationalisation idea, which doesn't seem workable given the circumstances, there's an interesting thought: these companies are sitting on basic infrastructure so instead of treating them like other companies, perhaps we should treat them like utilities. Note that this piece appears in The Guardian. I don't know how it works in the US, but I'm of the impression that in many European countr…
This would also make me a lot happier about sharing info with said companies. Right now I avoid their products (the non-open source ones) because they just have too much market share and power, but if a site like Facebook turned non-profit I'd be much happier to use it. It just sounds like a great idea all around.
Facebook goes "non-profit" -> becomes regulated in terms of privacy/earnings -> competing social network springs up -> is able to advertise and boast features that the "non-profit public" Facebook cannot have due to cost or regulations -> new social network is now the de-facto Facebook, and you're right where you started.
and this is assuming that the whole "lets beg Mr. Zuck to pretty pretty please stop doing that whole business thing and start serving us for free, we'd appreciate it" thing works out.
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Does this mean if you ever built a company, and it gets too big, it will get nationalized? Why not? I guess it also has to provide some important infrastructure for other companies. > And what will keep the law from evolving to nationalizing slightly smaller businesses as time goes. That's a slippery slope argument. Do you want to nationalize nothing ?
> That's a slippery slope argument. Do you want to nationalize nothing? I meant where do we draw the line?
We're already drawing a line since some things are already nationalized. We'd just need to move it.
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#64I totally agree that Google, Facebook and Amazon have too much power and too little accountability. However they're all global companies and as bad as they are, I trust all of them more than I trust the US government (I am not American). Can you even imagine how their business would work when these are state entities? You're no longer buying ad placements from a marketing company, you're buying them from the US gover…
The current situation is close to what you describe (PRISM, etc...)
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
This would also make me a lot happier about sharing info with said companies. Right now I avoid their products (the non-open source ones) because they just have too much market share and power, but if a site like Facebook turned non-profit I'd be much happier to use it. It just sounds like a great idea all around.
Facebook goes "non-profit" -> becomes regulated in terms of privacy/earnings -> competing social network springs up -> is able to advertise and boast features that the "non-profit public" Facebook cannot have due to cost or regulations -> new social network is now the de-facto Facebook, and you're right where you started. and this is assuming that the whole "lets beg Mr. Zuck to pretty pretty please stop doing that w…
I'm not at all convinced that there are any substantial new features that would overcome the inertia of lock-in (via one's existing connections).
I mean, G+ couldn't do it, and Google tried damn hard. If they can't do it at their scale, who can?
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#66I totally agree that Google, Facebook and Amazon have too much power and too little accountability. However they're all global companies and as bad as they are, I trust all of them more than I trust the US government (I am not American). Can you even imagine how their business would work when these are state entities? You're no longer buying ad placements from a marketing company, you're buying them from the US gover…
If Google and Facebook were nationalized, why would they need to sell ads?
Same reason that BBC Worldwide does.
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#67That misses an even more important point:
At this point any kind of cloud environment should be considered public infrastructure. It is not so much about all these companies, it is more about being able to keep the things you bought after these services reach their inevitable deaths, as no company survives forever.
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#68Actually, I think behind the nationalisation idea, which doesn't seem workable given the circumstances, there's an interesting thought: these companies are sitting on basic infrastructure so instead of treating them like other companies, perhaps we should treat them like utilities. Note that this piece appears in The Guardian. I don't know how it works in the US, but I'm of the impression that in many European countr…
Do you think we should have regulated AltaVista and MySpace as utilities, way back when? If so, what would this have done to Facebook and Google's prospects? If not, what makes something a utility?
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#69> For the briefest moment in March 2014, Facebook’s dominance looked under threat. Ello, amid much hype, presented itself as the non-corporate alternative to Facebook. Okay, this is a terrible opener. Ello never appeared to have any greater traction than as a hipster fad, much less posing a material threat to Facebook. Also, you can not nationalise any of the companies listed, because they are not British nor of Comm…
Yeah, I agree. Most of us haven't even heard of it until now…
Re: We Need to Nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon
#70Not sure if that's the right path to take, but I definitely agree something need to be done to add further consumer protections. Many people have a large chunk of their lives tied up tightly into their ecosystems, with no simple way out.
I've been reflecting on the impact of oauth / openid during the last few years. For some people, losing your Facebook or Google account could mean ending up locked out of dozens, if not hundreds, of services! Haven't checked Facebook's TOS, but Google's TOS says they can shut down your account at any time. Considering the size and reach of both, I think they should be required to at least provide a reasonable migration period before fully closing down an end-user's account.