Paul Kapustka's Blog

Google's arrogance over its ignorance (up until now) of matters Washington was never more evident than at the recent hearings about Google's dealings in China, when local (Bay area) congressman Tom Lantos ripped Google a new search-hole for its move into China.

The company's position is open to fair debate -- but its apparent failure to send somebody a few miles up the Peninsula to brief Rep. Lantos prior to the hearings shows how low a priority Google previously put on holding Congress' hand, a mistake the Googlers are apparently now trying to fix by throwing bundles of cash at lawyers.

Which, in D.C. is not always a bad idea. Just make sure it's the right lawyers. From what we hear, there are a lot of former SBC lobbyists looking for work, so that's a good place to start.

SMACKDOWN QUOTE:

Let's all share a group cringe for the Internet personality known as Esther Dyson, who offered the following quote to the Times about Google's lobbying ramp-up:

"It's sad," said Esther Dyson, editor of the technology newsletter Release 1.0 and former chairwoman of Icann, a nonprofit group that plays a role in Internet administration. "The kids are growing up. They've lost youth and innocence. Now they have to start being grown-ups and playing at least to some extent by grown-up rules."

What's really sad is that Esther thinks it's sad for Google to actually engage lawmakers on their own turf. But then, maybe listening to people from D.C. isn't a big part of Esther's agenda these days.

Smackdown score for Esther's quote: 1.0