Google tweaks Chrome licence text
Google has rescinded an article of the user agreement for its new browser, Chrome, released on Tuesday. — The initial agreement claimed rights over “any Content which you submit, post or display on or through” the browser.
Context & Ripple Effects
Chrome entered the browser market on September 2 as Google's challenge to Internet Explorer, with performance a prominent launch message. Within a day, the browser's terms of use drew criticism for language appearing to grant Google broad rights over material handled through Chrome; Google had already acknowledged the problem and promised a revision in its response to the EULA controversy.
The correction matters because Chrome is asking users to make Google their intermediary for web activity. Coverage of the launch spread across performance, web-application potential and privacy concerns, making the terms dispute an early test of whether product momentum can be separated from trust in the browser operator.
First-order effects
- Google removes the disputed content-rights language, narrowing the immediate trust problem for Chrome users whose web activity had appeared to be covered by the original agreement.
Second-order effects
- Google's browser pitch against Internet Explorer must compete on confidence as well as speed: ambiguous legal terms give prospective users a concrete reason to scrutinize Chrome's control over content and browsing activity.
Third-order effects
- If browsers become the primary intermediary between users and web services, their license language will draw greater attention as a form of delegated authority, pushing browser vendors to make rights over user content more explicit.
The trend: The browser battle is expanding from performance and features into scrutiny of the platform operator's legal authority over user activity.