more on Clean Image Is So Key To Google's Success, Why Take Gmail Risk?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

[ reminds me of a note I got yesterday, requesting that an EFF press 
release that I sent to the IP list be taken off the archive because:

"I am trying to clean up my google image in reference to my name."

I enjoyed 1984 (the book) but not the modern version of re-writing history.

I declined to remove it.

Dave
]
Date: Fri, 07 May 2004 08:48:58 -0400
From: Daniel Weitzner <djweitzner () csail mit edu>
Subject: Re: [IP] Clean Image Is So Key To Google's Success,
 Why Take Gmail Risk?
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, mossberg () wsj com

While I agree with Walt that gmail raises serious privacy questions, I see 
Google's gmail project (still in Beta) as doing exactly what their stock 
offering 'Owner's Manual' promises, they're are going to keep innovating 
for the long term without bowing to pressure to keep shareholders happy on 
a moment-by-moment basis. Walt is correct that if they don't keep *users* 
happy in the long run, they'll lose. So there are very real questions about 
the invasiveness of gmail, most particularly Steve Bellovin's point about 
the intrusion into the email of people who just send to a gmail address but 
never buy into the gmail privacy policy.  As Google has grown and offered 
more and more services (toolbar, for example). they continue to explore the 
boundary of trust versus intrusiveness. Gmail clearly pushes that one step 
further. This may be a step too far but the only way Google is going to 
find that out is from the experience of the Beta. The real question is 
having been bold enough to launch this service, will they be similarly bold 
enough to pull it or modify it substantially if user feedback and 
reflection indicates that this is the right thing to do?

Danny

--
Daniel J. Weitzner
+1.617.253.8036 (MIT)
World Wide Web Consortium                       +1.202.364.4750 (DC)
Technology & Society Domain Leader      <djweitzner () w3 org>
http://www.w3.org/People/Weitzner.html

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