[Asis-l] google base defines information

[Christopher Lueg]

Just had a look at Google Base and started wondering about what is
information ;-)

|4. What kind of information can I submit?
|
|Remember, our goal is to organize the world's information [...]
(from http://base.google.com/base/about.html)

but at the same time:

|11. How will you control for irrelevant items like pornography or SPAM
|material?
|
|All items that are uploaded must comply with Google Base Editorial
|Policies and Google Base Program Policies. Items that do not meet these
|policies may be taken down.
(from http://base.google.com/base/about.html)

Considering that pornography is the biggest seller on the web, effectively
driving the development of the internet, I'd say it's tricky to call
pornography (and even spam) *irrelevant* to the process of making
available the world's information. Not considering pornography and spam as
part of "the world's information" appears to be even further disconnected.

They actually state that their aim is to

|make [information] universally useful and accessible, and "the world's
|information" certainly includes almost anything you might wish to contribute
(from http://base.google.com/base/about.html)

...and I understand the business rationale behind their approach to
defining information but I think you get the point.


-- 
Dr. Christopher Lueg
Professor in Computing
University of Tasmania
Centenary Building R451
Hobart, TAS, Australia
christopher.lueg at utas.edu.au
http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~lueg/
CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B