encyclo - 8:24 pm on May 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

I don't think there are very many people happy about the Web Accelerator, me included. It is a huge invasion of privacy for users, it will cause nothing but problems for site owners, and it gives all the advantages to Google. If i gave the mistaken impression that I condoned it or approved of it, let me correct that right now.

However, Google's privacy invasion is not new, it's data expropriation is legendary, and it's total disinterest in anything other than their own interests is symptomatic, even more so since the company went public. I'm not as scandalized simply because it's not all new.

However, I can't see the long terms benefits of banning the accelerator IPs: I think that site owners will lose out in the long run with such a strategy. It may seem a good (if rather knee-jerk) reaction to the initial analysis, but I think we need more time to fully analyse the implications that the accelerator brings.