Bad Move, Google

In a move that I think is about as dumb as any I've heard the company make, Google says it plans to open its news to restricted commentary. As John Murrell points out in today's edition of Good Morning Silicon Valley, this decision will open Google up to more legal problems than it has any apparent clue about. I'm blown away that their attorneys are allowing this.

Web sites that publish news and commentary from others are generally considered exempt from laws governing things like libel and copyright violation because they are viewed as "common carriers." Just as the phone company can't be held responsible for what you say or transmit over its wires, the theory goes, so Web sites can't be held accountable for information published on them by people other than the owner-publisher. Even that exception is pretty limited.

But if a site begins to monitor, evaluate and discriminate about publishing news commentary, it assumes the role of publisher. And in that role, it may well find itself liable for content that would otherwise not come under legal protection.

There are other reasons this is stupid and Murrell covers several of them. I hope Google re-thinks this policy that it describes as experimental.