[curun1r]

> Removing it would mean "we're free to do evil now"

It's a subtle distinction, but the motto is "don't be evil", not "don't do evil." The former allows you to do evil things in service to noble purposes. For example, "don't do evil" would have required the company to shut down services rather than sharing information with the NSA. "Don't be evil" allowed them to balance that evil action against the good created by those services to realize a net-positive societal benefit from offering those services.

[hawkice]

Perhaps a better example: Censorship in Google China. The "don't do evil" vs "don't be evil" was almost exactly how they pitched that conversation.

[wavefunction]

Doing evil is being evil. End of discussion.

[gtremper]

Well, everyone is evil then.