Looking for Smut in All the Wrong Places

I can't believe that I (one of G's toughest critics, and just another hapless victim of its infamous, algorithmic dance), of all people, am going to side with Google today. Well, here goes nothing...

About three and a half weeks ago, the Department of Justice subpoenaed the four major search engines - Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL - to turn over the results of a certain amount of adult search queries performed in each engine. The federal government said it needed the information pursuant to its ongoing monitoring and enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act. While the latter three search giants were cooperative towards the government's efforts, Google was not.

There are two different aspects of this situation that I'd like to discuss: the right & wrong of the matter and the reality of it. In a perfect world, Google (and anyone else) would be forthcoming in providing information that would help save children from viewing pornographic images, and/or info that would help authorities catch online adult predators. Now having said that, from all I know about this current Bush administration, it is hell-bent on ridding this society of pornography (as unrealistic as that goal may seem). So while the DoJ may state one noble reason for seeking this information from Google, the real reason (most likely) - in addition to its COPA defense - for the government's acquisition is for its mission to eradicate porn.

Realistically-speaking, it seems that Google is well within its rights, in the absence of overt wrong-doing (and remember, this information is not being used to make a prosecutorial case against the search giant), to keep the information regarding its enterprise (public company though it is) to itself. It may disseminate that information to its stockholders or other information-gathering or statistical-analyzing venture on the net (as long as it's not violating personal privacy issues), as it sees fit. And to Big G, it's not a matter of shielding questionable or highly irregular adult/porn search terms. It's an issue of principle.

Some people would say that Google (as well as the other search engines) has only itself to blame in this matter for keeping such detailed records (a fact which is widely-known throughout the internet community) in the first place, but that's a copout. The Google-heads have a right to know (again, assuming that they handle information irresponsibly) the who, what, when, where, why, and how of everything that transpires in their own little corner (or in Google's case, their 50-room mansion) of cyberspace.; insofar as porn is concerned or otherwise. And to anyone who uses their engine and doesn't like that fact, the web is a big place and they're at liberty to go perform their search queries elsewhere.

Now, to tell you the truth, I think Google is going to lose in this matter anyway. The government is going to get its injunction, and eventually the Googleplex is going to have to submit said records. But, in the meantime, Google is going to come out smelling like a rose. And, if anything, it will gain even more trust, loyalty, and confidence from their patrons; including and especially from those who look for extreme porn.

So in the end, Google may be wrong (and conversely, the government is right) for standing in the way of shielding underage children from porn. But that's if, and only if, the government is using said information for - and only towards - its intended purpose , which I highly doubt. The reality of the case is that, with the high-profile nature of this case, Google's steadfastness almost guarantees it a no-lose situation.

Meanwhile, the 35%-total-market-share of online search queries that is the Google juggernaut rolls on, gobbling up any and all information and data streams and sources in its path. Why doesn't the government legislate an act against that also?