Google or Belgium? Choose One...

I once wrote a column in the New Zealand Herald about Stella Artois' advertising. In it I referred to Belgium's finest moments. There haven't been many: Tin Tin, Stella Artois, colonising the Congo...Well, now they have the honour of being the country whose legal system upheld the case against Google by the publishing consortium Copiepresse, who alleged that Google's linking to their websites breached their copyright.

In his excellent blog Allan Jenkins has this to say:

It's clear Boribon's (head of Copiepresse) problem with Google has nothing to do with copyright and everything to do with resentment of -- and fear of -- Google's success. But not just Google's success. This is fear -- and again, sadly, it is so deeply rooted in many parts of European academia and public administration that it will take a generational shift to root it out -- this is fear of technology, decentralization, business in general, globalization and free information.

According to Businessweek the judgement of the Belgian court might embolden other copyright owners to sue Google.

It is all somewhat Through the Looking Glass really. I, as do millions of other bloggers and web site owners, want to be listed on Google. It is a symbiotic relationship. More importantly it is a cornerstone concept of the Internet that sites are a web of links.

If it came to a choice between Google and Belgium I am afraid to say that I would pick Google. Who can grudge them their wealth and success? They have made my life easier. The Belgians, on the other hand,...we'll, I have nothing to say about them. They are irrelevant. Just ignore them.

Comments

Ze Frank thinks so you don't have to

Ze Frank appeared on my radar when I saw his presentation among the excellent TED Talks videos . This morning I was reading Russell Davies planning blog in which he referred to a clip by Ze Frank - Where do ideas come from. Here's the transcript: "...Hungry Hippo licks Aunt JEmima [sic] writes, "Are you ever gonna break into song again? Are you running out of ideas?" Hungry Hippo licks Aunt JEmima, that's a good question. I run out of ideas every day! Each day I live in mortal fear that I've used up the last idea that'll ever come to me. If you don't wanna run out of ideas the best thing to do is not to execute them. You can tell yourself that you don't have the time or resources to do 'em right. Then they stay around in your head like brain crack. No matter how bad things get, at least you have those good ideas that you'll get to later. Some people get addicted to that brain crack. And the longer they wait, the more they convince themse...

Johnny Bunko competiton

The Great Johnny Bunko Challenge from DHP on Vimeo . There's a young chap in Indiana, one Alec Quig , who has written to me about creating a career based on a polymathic degree, from which he has recently graduated. He's an interesting young man and his concerns about going forward in life are the anxieties we all face at crossroads in our lives when we are forced to make choices. Dan Pink's latest book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need might help: "From a New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Washington Post bestselling author comes a first-of-its- kind career guide for a new generation of job seekers.There's never been a career guide like it.the fully illustrated story (ingeniously told in Manga form) of a young Everyman just out of college who lands his first job. Johnny Bunko is new to parachute company Boggs Corp., and he stumbles through his early days as a working stiff until a crisis prompts him to find a new job. St...

Why billboards must go.

The problem with billboards and advertising in public places is they are an invasion of privacy. Unlike magazine, tv, radio (etc) advertising you cannot choose to turn it off or avoid it. Nor does it offer anything in return. It is a medium that offers no benefit or advantage to the person it is inflicted on. At least television ads subsidise the programming. Without doubt some billboards are entertaining - I thought the anti GE poster for short lived MADGE activist group was particularly good. But most are rubbish. Literally. Badly executed. Nothing important to say. The debate has led to a great deal of hysteria - mostly from people with a vested interest in perpetuating the deployment of hoardings. Perhaps the idea that the issue at stake is 'property rights' is the creepiest. If you own a building you have every right to plaster anything you like on its external surfaces. Is that an antisocial point of view? I think so. In the UK you could have an ASBO slapped on you for si...

ThoughtSpurs

Search This Blog