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Google Street View hit Japan

During Novell's Hack Week I started a project I was interested around moonlight, but haven't really done it. I'll revisit it once I got one example running (so, no example runs fine yet).

Recently Google Street View has launched in Japan this Summer, and it caused a lot of flamatory and bashing against Google. Details can be read at GlobalVoicesOnline ([*1] and [*2]). Similar arguments occured in France, England, Canada etc., and the U.S (I think, everywhere).

I'm not to explain all about the arguments, but to just update my recent status. Read those articles above if you are interested.

As one of the board members of MIAU, I was privately busy for preparing a symposium on Google's Street View, to discuss it publicly, for about 60 attendees. (Japanese news links: [*1], [*2] and [*3])

Apart from the organization which stands at neutral position, I keep (blogging about it (in Japanese) mostly raising caution that people should calm down, point problems precisely in precise context and distinguish issues and nonissues for each subject people raised, so that we do not have to shut down any kind of web service deployments unnecessarily. Even standing on such prudent position, it's been very hard to correct those furious people. I am also defamed by a lot of people including Anonymous Cowards in slashdot.jp for posting fair (in my belief) evaluation on those opinions. (Like "If there's risk of some property rights then it should be evaluated in an evenhanded fashion" => "F you")

It's not an easy bug to get resolved.

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