U.S. government wants to censor Google Earth
It seems like the government might be moving towards censoring Google’s content. Someone slap me, as I could have sworn that I don’t live on mainland China. The head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, has announced that the United States government is growing increasingly uncomfortable with level of detail and photographic precision that research and educational tools like Google Earth provide. According the Murrett, the agency might move to restrict funding to companies that provide satellite imagery. As most of these satellite imagery services garner a significant portion of their funding from government grants, this could effectively choke the flow of new and more highly defined pictures. While we understand that national security concerns are of significant importance, restricting the free flow of information is a slippery slope. Here’s to hoping that this one doesn’t escalate beyond the usual posturing and rhetoric.
[Via Information Week]
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