David Howard, Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft, took to the Legal blog today to discuss Google's idea of openness.
In the post, David talks about the frustrations Microsoft has felt trying to work with Google, which also reflects the frustrations many of Google's customers are facing now, too. Not just due to a silly YouTube app, but Google has gotten a bit too cocky over the last few years, and I believe there's evidence that customers are becoming extremely wary of the Search company. Something as simple as a fight over a YouTube app for Windows Phone, could put Google into a bad place (Blackberry?) in the coming years.
I said something earlier on Twitter today that resounded with many folks. I said:
Changing "don't be evil" to "don't be Google" just saves time.
For many, Google is now considered just a data pillager that has no respect for anyone's privacy. That makes them evil to many.
In the Microsoft blog post, Mr. Howard walks through the steps taken over the past few months to develop an application for YouTube that Google would authorize. Per David, Microsoft has bent over backwards, while Google continues to machinate excuses and put requirements on the app that Google can't adhere to themselves.
Read the full post to get a real sense of the ongoing issue: The limits of Google’s openness
P.S. I think there's relevance that the rebuttal to Google's practices actually show up first on a legal blog. Next steps should be interesting.
