Google: A Tactic, Not a Strategy Shift
November 28, 2008
Techdirt’s “Google Is No Longer Silicon Valleys’ Legal Defender” here makes a good point. With regard to Google’s deal with publishers for the Google book scanning project, the decision “appeared to signal the end of Google’s earlier position of fighting certain legal battles on principle.” I did not think of Google fighting legal battles for a higher purpose than achieving its goals. I also had not considered Google as fighting legal battles for Silicon Valley. My view of Techdirt’s point is that Google is being pragmatic. I thought the legal battles were designed to force certain decisions to go Google’s way. The idea was that by picking certain legal fights, Google could in effect create a decision foundation to make it easier for Google to push forward with greater aggressiveness because Google won certain battles. I see the deal with publishers as one made so Google could move forward with books and begin a different assault on traditional “dead tree” publishing. My view is that Techdirt’s point is well taken, but I think the Google will be pushing forward to commercialize the information it has and it can have created. In short, Google is on a path to become a 21st century Gutenberg. Paying a trivial amount to move forward is little more than a tactical decision, not a change in Google’s broader policy of picking which battles to fight.
Stephen Arnold, November 28, 2008
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