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Where in the World Is Larry Page?

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Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#131

Post by ocdtrekkie »

skummetmaelk wrote: post #15
chosenbreed wrote: post #14

I might be missing something here but my thinking is that Google Inc/Alphabet is bigger than Larry Page. If for whatever reason he was not able to attend he could have sent a representative chosen from among the senior executives. It seems that neither his attendance nor Google's participation in the whole thing was not mandatory

According to the article they did offer to send someone else. Presumable the senate was not satisfied with anyone other than the top guy.

They would've accepted either Sundar Pichai, or I believe even Eric Schmidt, who is now just a "technical advisor" but was the former CEO of Google, and former executive chairman of both Google and Alphabet, would've been acceptable as well.

Kent Walker doesn't make decisions about how Google conducts business, Kent's job is to whitewash it for public consumption. I believe his current title is "Vice President of Global Affairs", which is more or less a PR title, and of course, as others have noted, he's their head lawyer.

Anyone can look up Kent's numerous writings on Google's Public Policy blog, the Senate wanted to speak to the people who actually make those decisions, not just be informed what the decisions are.

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#132

Post by adventured »

mcny wrote: post #66
close04 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense to get the person at the top. They are ultimately responsible/accountable for things. They are well prepared in advance so why not go for them?

> It makes sense to get the person at the top. They are ultimately responsible/accountable for things. They are well prepared in advance so why not go for them? What's the point? Is anyone actually responsible/accountable? Did anything change at Wells Fargo? Equifax? Wells Fargo blackballed employees who make $35k a year. The CEO testified in Congress and took his golden parachute. I am trying to understand what resp…

> Did anything change at Wells Fargo?

Wells Fargo is under direct supervision of the Federal Reserve, and is locked into a growth ban, because of what it did. They've also paid billions of dollars in fines so far, with more coming.

> The [Wells Fargo] CEO testified in Congress and took his golden parachute.

You're making that up. There was no golden parachute, their CEO forfeited nearly all of his compensation for 2016 and was forced out of the company without severence or golden parachute.

"Wells Fargo CEO Stumpf to forfeit $41 million in unvested equity amid independent probe"

"The bank also said on Tuesday that Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the community banking division, had left the company and would not receive a severance payment. She forfeited about $19 million in outstanding unvested equity awards"

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/wells-fargo-ceo-stumpf-to-fo...

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#133

Post by forgot-my-pw »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #129

Google offered to send someone to the hearing, but the Senate didn't feel they were high ranking enough, so they didn't let the person fill the seat and let it remain "empty" even though Google offered. Disgraceful grandstanding by Warner.

Can't blame him for not going. They tried to crucify Mark Zuckerberg on live broadcast last time.

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#134

Post by puzzle »

wybiral wrote: post #125
puzzle wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SSCI might be less of a circus show than e.g. House committees, but you still hear preposterous things from them. Look at this interview: https://www.wired.com/story/mark-warner-senate-committee-hea... "I know Kent Walker. He’s a good guy. I respect him, but we had the lawyers back in November. This is a hearing that’s going to talk about solutions. I think it speaks volumes that Google doesn’t want to be part of…

You're citing a Wired interview with one member of the committee which isn't the same thing as a real committee hearing.

[You asked if I'm a Googler] I used to be a Googler, years ago. That's how I know how ridiculous the outrage and the downplaying of Walker are. I'm glad I can talk now without being accused of defending my employer. I brought up Warner because he's one of the most persistent voices, yet he wanted to talk about China, which is not related to election interference.

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#135

Post by joshuamorton »

wybiral wrote: post #128
joshuamorton wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There kavanaugh hearing wasn't a circus either (ignoring the protestors), but it's still just a tool to generate soundbites. A closed door hearing is for fact finding, public ones are for proselytizing.

Or... It's done in public to keep the public informed as to what issues they're looking at and help us follow along because transparency is a useful component in democracy? Just because a tiny amount of grandstanding happens doesn't make it all mock/show. Full disclosure, you're a Googler.

Your first paragraph would be spot on if there were only a tiny amount of grandstanding.

The majority of questions at every hearing I've seen have been politically biased grandstanding, with the goal of creating a soundbite that appeals to the base, not of factually informing the public.

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#137

Post by 908087 »

> According to one Larry loyalist, Page’s privacy, besides being a personal preference, is also a carefully considered company strategy.

That's gold, given the fact that his company has set out to completely destroy the concept of privacy for the rest of the population.

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#138

Post by tensor »

394549 wrote: post #97
gnode wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems that Google did offer to send a senior legal executive, and the senate refused them. This just goes to show how much of a charade these hearings are.

> This just goes to show how much of a charade these hearings are. Literally no one in the public is going to pay attention or give a shit about hearings where Congress questions lower level executives with little to no decision-making authority. It's not a charade to want to question the one guy in the company who unquestionably has authority over whatever decisions Congress wants to ask about. If you think they sho…

They are looking for information, they should question the person who can answer those the best. They are not compelling the company to make any decisions/changes and if they were it would be through legal action anyways, not talking to a CEO.

This is pure grandstanding for the purpose of public spectacle. Good on Page for telling them where to stuff it. If congress wants to take these issues seriously they should drop the politics and show and start being serious.

Re: Where in the World Is Larry Page?

#140

Post by eutropia »

Jerry2 wrote: post #136

Larry Page probably didn't attend the Senate hearings because he knew that this video was going to get leaked: https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/09/12/leaked-video-googl... He would have been grilled for hours over it.

At the risk of sounding partisan, why should I trust a breitbart dot com link?
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