[tobtoh]

I don't think your Google analogy is quite the right example.

* Google indexes information that is public, that I (or others) have chosen to publish. The data on Facebook is personal data.

* Other search engines, or even yourself if you wanted to code a crawler can index that same info because there is no 'lock'. No-one besides Facebook can access my personal info (because they have put a lock on).

* This is about (one caveat - see below) being able to access my personal data and being able to port it elsewhere. It's not about ad targetting or other business aspects - ie I don't expect FB to make their ad data exportable, just my personal details.

The Caveat (which is related to your thought experiment): With regard to your thought experiment - I think the answer is both - Google's action is both a 'striking a blow for openness' and' a self-interest action to 'negotiate a favorable market position'.