Gmail - what do you think?
- Thread starter Josh Seipp
- Start date
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I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
Well, I think G-mail got a hugely bad rap, and I think the reason it did is because Microsoft poured tons of corporate money--and pulled the strings of its stooge Congressmen--into making the public think that G-mail is an "invasion of privacy", when it's really no worse than Hotmail or Yahoo mail.
mindspell
vvv Jake's ass vvv
Like Alex says, it is the same thing with hotmail and Yahoo, the difference is the storage, Google just give loads of storage to keep those emails. EULAs of Yahoo and hotmail/msn are as creepy as G-Mail's. In fact, most Microsoft EULAs are really insane, they can basically own you computer if you break the EULA.
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I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/business/8783242.htm?1c
Microsoft DEFINITELY put Figueroa up to this.
Microsoft DEFINITELY put Figueroa up to this.
ImNoHippy
pinball extraordinaire
- Oct 31, 2003
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I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
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I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
Posted on Fri, May. 28, 2004_krdDartInc++;document.write('');http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v...statimes.com/mld/cctimes/living/people/teens/ 
Senate sets limits on e-mail info sharing
[size=-1]By Michael Bazeley[/size]
[size=-1]SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS[/size]
Prompted by privacy concerns about Google's new Gmail service, the state Senate passed a bill Thursday that would limit what e-mail service providers can do with a customer's personal information.
The bill moved out of the Senate on a 24-8 vote after its author, Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, added amendments that resulted in Google dropping its initial objections and adopting a "neutral" stance.
Even with the amendments, Figueroa called the bill important, first-of-its kind legislation.
"We know that once the information genie is out of the bottle, it is impossible to put it back," Figueroa told lawmakers. "My legislation guarantees that our most private communications will remain just that, private."
Figueroa's bill, which now goes to the Assembly, applies to all companies that offer e-mail services. But she drafted it in direct response to Google's Gmail, now being tested among a large pool of users.
Google, which is in the process of going public in the stock market, offers the Web-based service for free. Its computers scan the content of Gmail so that it can serve up relevant text ads alongside messages. Almost immediately after Gmail was announced March 31, privacy groups and others denounced it as a crass violation of users' privacy.
While the use of Gmail is voluntary, many critics worried about the privacy of people who sent messages to Gmail account-holders.
Figueroa initially wanted to require Google to get consent of non-Gmail users who sent mail into the system. At one point, her office consulted with DirectPop, a Florida company that developed a way for Google to automatically ask non-Gmail users whether they wanted to send mail to Gmail users.
But Google rejected the concept, and other lawmakers told Figueroa her bill would die in a Senate committee if she did not amend it.
"Google said it would impede their ability to market Gmail," said Robert Craddock, CEO of DirectPop.
Google said in statement Thursday it would continue to work with Figueroa's office on the bill's language.
"We believe we have reached conceptual agreement on most of the key points, but we have not yet reached agreement on all the details," the company said.
The Mountain View company -- initially caught off-guard by the privacy furor -- apparently viewed the Figueroa bill as a serious threat to one of its most important new products. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin met personally with Figueroa. And in late April, the company hired one of Sacramento's top lobbying firms, Rose and Kindel, to lobby on its behalf.
The current version of the bill forbids e-mail providers from storing any personal information they collect while scanning messages. It also says humans cannot look at such information and prohibits transferring personal information to a third party.
The bill also forbids companies from keeping copies of messages on their servers long after customers have deleted them.
Senate sets limits on e-mail info sharing
[size=-1]By Michael Bazeley[/size]
[size=-1]SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS[/size]
Prompted by privacy concerns about Google's new Gmail service, the state Senate passed a bill Thursday that would limit what e-mail service providers can do with a customer's personal information.
The bill moved out of the Senate on a 24-8 vote after its author, Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, added amendments that resulted in Google dropping its initial objections and adopting a "neutral" stance.
Even with the amendments, Figueroa called the bill important, first-of-its kind legislation.
"We know that once the information genie is out of the bottle, it is impossible to put it back," Figueroa told lawmakers. "My legislation guarantees that our most private communications will remain just that, private."
Figueroa's bill, which now goes to the Assembly, applies to all companies that offer e-mail services. But she drafted it in direct response to Google's Gmail, now being tested among a large pool of users.
Google, which is in the process of going public in the stock market, offers the Web-based service for free. Its computers scan the content of Gmail so that it can serve up relevant text ads alongside messages. Almost immediately after Gmail was announced March 31, privacy groups and others denounced it as a crass violation of users' privacy.
While the use of Gmail is voluntary, many critics worried about the privacy of people who sent messages to Gmail account-holders.
Figueroa initially wanted to require Google to get consent of non-Gmail users who sent mail into the system. At one point, her office consulted with DirectPop, a Florida company that developed a way for Google to automatically ask non-Gmail users whether they wanted to send mail to Gmail users.
But Google rejected the concept, and other lawmakers told Figueroa her bill would die in a Senate committee if she did not amend it.
"Google said it would impede their ability to market Gmail," said Robert Craddock, CEO of DirectPop.
Google said in statement Thursday it would continue to work with Figueroa's office on the bill's language.
"We believe we have reached conceptual agreement on most of the key points, but we have not yet reached agreement on all the details," the company said.
The Mountain View company -- initially caught off-guard by the privacy furor -- apparently viewed the Figueroa bill as a serious threat to one of its most important new products. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin met personally with Figueroa. And in late April, the company hired one of Sacramento's top lobbying firms, Rose and Kindel, to lobby on its behalf.
The current version of the bill forbids e-mail providers from storing any personal information they collect while scanning messages. It also says humans cannot look at such information and prohibits transferring personal information to a third party.
The bill also forbids companies from keeping copies of messages on their servers long after customers have deleted them.
