Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), long the proponent of a free and open Internet for everyone, apparently even has its own standards of decency and certain limitations on openness when it comes to its own services and devices. And it took the forward-thinking porn industry to encourage the censorship. Google has worked against dictatorships that try to suppress diverse opinions, and it fights for Internet users with other entities want to take the anonymity out of the Internet and put faces to IP addresses online.
Up to this point, Google Inc had been pretty libertarian with Google Glass, preferring the developers to dictate the direction the new device would take. But just as MiKandi was launching a new Glass app called “Tits and Glass,” (no, we are not making this up) Google came out just a couple days later to announce the change to its Glass policy, which now prohibits sexually explicit or racy content on the device. The policy generally vague, but now sexually explicit content is specifically mentioned among other actions that include “criminal” and “illegal” activities.
Failure to abide by the policy or if found by Google Inc to be in violation of the policy, developers could lose the app, lose the ability to develop future Glass apps and/or termination of its Google account altogether.
MiKandi, the developer of the adult app, will not be deterred. First, co-founder Jesse Adams said, “Google must be afraid of how powerful their own Glasses are,” then added later, “We’re not going to just stop. … We have to think about our next strategy.”
What are your thoughts about Google Inc and its new policy? Should adult apps be allowed on Glass and let the market dictate whether they exist? Or is Google doing the right thing to take responsibility for the content that ultimately will be available on their device? Give us your feedback in the comments section below.
