The emerging web Leviathan - paranoia over search and content

I thought I would pass on this interesting piece in the New York Times business section on yet more controversy surrounding Google, this time over its emergence as a company that provides not only search results but also original content. I use its two main content subsidiaries: Blogger (to host this blog) and YouTube (the top video site). Now Knol comes along,a potential competitor with Wikipedia, a place where experts can share their knowledge on a variety of topics. The article points out: "Google’s growing reach into the content business could create conflicts similar to those faced by Microsoft in its dual role as a provider of an operating system that others run their software applications on and a maker of applications."