Re: Global oversight
Hmm, well, we'd better call International Rescue, see if they'll take the job!
Seriously though, I strongly suspect that the Internet services will get carved up into different areas. In places like Europe there is a growing appetite for regulation of the major tech companies (in areas of taxation, security, user criminality, data privacy, etc), but the regulations aren't worth it unless there's a way of imposing a consequence. The only sure way of achieving that is a Great Firewall. If a company refuses to play by the rules and provides an unregulated service from outside, there'd have to be a way of ensuring that their network traffic can be blocked. China has already done it, Russia is / has done it, Europe is heading that way.
Google aren't in China. If Europe puts up regulations backed by a Great Firewall of Europe, Google might not be in Europe. Other countries are likely to follow suit if there is a precedent set in a major democratic block like the EU. If they want to operate as they do today, they may well find themselves confined to operating in the USA. Which is a tiny market (in comparison to the entirety of the global market).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
