What Should Senator Conroy Ask Google?


Federal Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy will be hanging around Google HQ in Mountain View soon. What should he be asking the Big G?

Conroy picture by Getty Images

While the exact trip details haven’t been finalised, Conroy said at the launch of an AIIA/KPMG cloud computing report today that a visit to Google was imminent (Conroy says it will happen as part of a scheduled conference visit to New York, and he’ll also be visiting some satellite suppliers while he’s in the US). One issue he will be pursuing is whether companies like Google will begin actively hosting some of their applications in Australia:

I’m hopefully going to visit Google HQ in a couple of weeks, and certainly I’ll be raising the issue with them of hosting various things.

Given that Google loathes talking about where its data centres are, I’m not sure how far that will go. But there are lots of other issues Senator Conroy could raise with Google. Here’s a few off the top of my head:

  • Will the search giant pull out of Australia if Conroy pursues his long-term dream of introducing censorship?
  • Are we ever going to see a local version of Google Voice?
  • Can Google do better with its privacy policy?
  • How long before Google starts selling music locally, and will it be mindful of the current price gouging inquiry?
  • Is Google dodging Australian tax with weird business structures?

What would you like Senator Conroy to ask Sergey and the gang? Tell us in the comments.


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