I tend to think that Google is rather bigger than any one nation-states ability to contain it, at this point, which makes comparisons to Apple somewhat funny.
Amazon appears to be desperately seeking to connect with the funding channels this article highlights.
Overall reaction: meh, the entire tech sector has always played this role in any society since inception.
Silicon Valley, ARPA, and later, DARPA seem to seamlessly fit with such a vision as outlined.
No disputing anything here, it's simply that we aren't in any position to assess what Google wants, really, are we?
the core component of what eventually became Google’s search service. Brin and Page had performed their work with funding from the Digital Library Initiative (DLI), a multi-agency programme of the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA and DARPA
That's a pretty big statement.
I remember hearing a bureaucrat say that the best way to prevent another terrorist attack was greater "intelligence". That is their word for monitor everything everyone does. The war on terror means common sense privacy laws which again means that you don't have any online ... for your safety.
Overall reaction: meh, the entire tech sector has always played this role in any society since inception. Silicon Valley, ARPA, and later, DARPA seem to seamlessly fit with such a vision as outlined.
No disputing anything here, it's simply that we aren't in any position to assess what Google wants, really, are we?