I just read Ars Technica’s analysis of the whole Google, ACLU, and federal government COPA thing. I really try to not get too political, here or anywhere, but in this case I don’t like where Peter Pollack leaves his analysis of:
Because the government has refused to divulge any details about what it plans to do with the information requested from Google, it is impossible for Plaintiffs to ascertain if they need to conduct their own follow-up discovery from Google. If the motion is granted, however, Plaintiffs will very likely need to obtain further information from Google to understand what Google’s response actually signifies.
In my opinion the ACLU is helping Google. Google is the darling of the tech industry right now. With another organization basically saying that Google’s trade secrets are on the line if the government compels them to release this information, will the government press forward? I think the ACLU is trying to rile up the masses, as well as force the courts to observe precedents that have been set in these cases (and possibly set up an appeal for Google if things go sideways).
Besides, I really hate the fact that the government is fishing for data to support something that’s already been dubbed unconstitutional. By the people, for the people? Heh, government is by itself, for itself nowadays.