Google Chrome Operating System Under Fire From Industry Leaders

[David Baxter PhD]

Google Chrome OS Comes Under Fire from Industry Leaders
Search Engine Journal
December 15, 2010

The Google Chrome OS has launched its pre-beta pilot program for qualified testers. However, while Google lovers around the world are practically drooling to get their hands on the Cr48, not everyone is a fan. Several leaders in the technology industry have openly criticized the Google operating system.

Richard Stallman, prominent advocate of free software, warned that the OS would represent a forfeiture of data control. As reported on the Guardian, Stallman stated that the Google OS is bound to lead people into ?careless computing.? The risks, he says, include losing legal rights to the data; while you must personally be presented with a signed warrant for anyone to search through your computer files, you may not even be aware that your data is being requisitioned if it?s being stored in the cloud. ?They may not even have to give the company a search warrant,? says Stallman. While he doesn?t speak against the cloud on the whole, Stallman?s sentiments have been clear for quite some time; two years ago, he said that over-using cloud computing was ?worse than stupid.?

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[David Baxter PhD]

Stallman?s Cloud Concerns: Fight for Laws or Against Technology?

Stallman?s Cloud Concerns ? Fight for Laws or Against Technology?
by Rob Young, Search Engine Journal
December 20, 1010

The release of the Chrome OS for pre-beta testing has unleashed concerns over data control and privacy. Nonetheless, technology is progressing steadily toward the cloud in every aspect.

The Guardian reported Richard Stallman?s words (and we quoted some of his criticisms here). Stallman, an industry guru and brilliant mind, calls cloud computing an attitude ? and specifically, a careless one. He stated that the reason for the advancement of cloud computing, despite the potential ramifications over data control, were that ?there?s a sucker born every minute.? His concerns were fairly explicit: Governments can seize cloud data without a warrant. You, the owner or creator of the data, may not even know about it.

Let?s not hesitate for a moment as we acknowledge that these complaints are legitimate. The entire concept of due process ? of knowing what you are being charged of, of having certain rights and control over your property, and more ? is disrupted. The reason is a legal technicality of ownership; data stored in the cloud isn?t your property, but that of the company hosting the servers.

This was a legal grey area when the Internet came to be, but thanks to cases like the YouTube fiasco, we have a strong and dangerous precedent on data control. But is the solution really to halt the progress of technology, especially when the cloud offers so many advantages across the board?

There is another option: to fight for the creation of a new set of laws which recognize virtual space as belonging not to the owner of physical storage devices, but to the registered account holder. This leap wouldn?t be easy, as it signifies the legal recognition of the Internet as a location rather than a technology. However, as the cloud era approaches, this legal shift may be the only way to maintain our right to privacy.