[pcwalton]

"Sounds like the result of some extremely dumb law and management not having the guts to do the right thing and ignore it."

Am I reading this properly or did you suggest that Google should be above the law?

[luriel]

In a way Google itself has from the start been based on ignoring (certain aspects) of a dumb law: copyright.

They download/copy content from millions of sites without explicit permission.

Of course that example is more ambiguous as the definition of fair use is vague (and ever-changing), but is not all that different.

If every business followed every law in the books the economy would crawl to a halt.