Information Ethics – Page 11 – MichaelZimmer.org

Access to Knowledge

Posted by Michael Zimmeron April 18, 2006in Events, Information Ethics, Information Law & Policy, Internet

This weekend I will be attending an international conference on Access to Knowledge hosted by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. From their site: In the digital era, most multinational corporations and policymakers are of the view that…

China vs. Germany: Comparing Google’s Censorship Practices

Posted by Michael Zimmeron April 14, 2006in Information Ethics, Social Media3 Comments

Part of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's justification for being complicit with China's censorship of search engine results is that Google does the same thing in Germany and France, so what's the big deal with time around. Consider this recent statement:Asked…

Google defends cooperation with China

Posted by Michael Zimmeron April 12, 2006in Information Ethics, Social Media2 Comments

MSNBC has an article today where Google defends its cooperation with Chinese censorship. Choice quotes from CEO Eric Schmidt include:"We believe that the decision that we made to follow the law in China was absolutely the right one," Schmidt said…

Keen: Web 2.0, Marxism, and Unintended Consequences

Posted by Michael Zimmeron March 15, 2006in Information Ethics, Social Media, Values In Design

I'm late commenting on this, but I just read Andrew Keen's provocative piece in the Weekly Standard on the Web 2.0 movement. Keen has received considerable criticism for making comparisons between the Web 2.0 meme and Marxism, but he does…

John Sexton’s Wikipedia Article

Posted by Michael Zimmeron March 2, 2006in Information Ethics, Internet

I was quoted in today's Washington Square News about recent edits to NYU President John Sexton's article on Wikipedia. Since the recent labor disupte with the Graduate Student Organizing Committee, various additions were made to Sexton's page that, IMO, violated…

Google moving search records out of China

Posted by Michael Zimmeron March 2, 2006in Information Ethics, Search Engines1 Comment

At Monday's panel on “The Ethics and Politics of Search Engines”, Peter Norvig, Google's director of research, stated that Google is moving the databases they keep of Chinese searches outside of the country in order to prevent China's government from…

Thoughts on “growing anti-Google sentiment and what is fueling it”

Posted by Michael Zimmeron February 20, 2006in Information Ethics, Internet, Search Engines, Values In Design3 Comments

I recently received a request from a journalism graduate student to comment on a story about "growing anti-Google sentiment and what is fueling it" and about "how Google's principles have changed, and how the public is reacting to this switch."…

Protect Your Regime with iRepress

Posted by Michael Zimmeron February 18, 2006in Information Ethics, Internet, Search Engines, Values In Design

Mark Fiore's latest cartoon satirizes the activities of US search engine companies contributing to the Great Firewall of China: "Protect Your Regime with iRepress - with Powerful Democracy Filtering!"

Google No Longer Claims Completely Organic Results

Posted by Michael Zimmeron February 16, 2006in Information Ethics, Internet, Search Engines, Values In Design

Last month, Google changed their censorship policy after launching their censored Google.cn service in China. Now it seems Google has changed its "core principles" regarding providing only organic search results. Previously Google’s Principles included this statement: The order and contents…

Congress v. IT Companies re: China

Posted by Michael Zimmeron February 15, 2006in Information Ethics, Internet, Search Engines

Nathan Weinberghas posted some excellent excerpts form today's congressional hearings with various IT companies regarding thier actions in China. Here are some highlights: The Associated Press: Rep. Tom Lantos, ranking Democrat on the International Relations Committee, told the company officials…