Google Earth Not Aiding Terrorists

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
John Hanke, the man in charge of Google Earth and Google Maps, talks about the recent allegations that Google Earth helps terrorists. All in all, it seems pretty ridiculous that Google could be blamed for helping plot attacks when a plain old road map would do the same thing. Besides, a current Google Earth snapshot shows where I lived four years ago, not exactly real time information.

Hamas militants in Gaza, who have been firing rockets into Israel, and the Pakistan-based terrorists, who stormed Mumbai late last year, are among several radical groups that have reportedly used Google Earth to help in the execution of their missions.
Click to expand...
 
That is like blaming a map company for making detailed maps. How stupid are these people. Better to blame GPS devices for helping smugglers.
 
This is as strong as the "video games" cause violence argument... someone explain the past 1000+ years of everything BEFORE all these technologies existed...
 
I've used Google Earth stateside for training exercises and in Iraq as a low-reliability intel source for mission planning.

I've also used it to find a hotel I was going to stay at and the easiest route.

Google Earth is a tool, just like Mapquest, a can opener, or the fearmongers that perpetuate this type of story.
 
Playing devil's advocate. Blaming just the user and not the availability of said tools is foolish. Why not have guns and explosives freely available at the local walmart? Not everyone has a measure of self control thus access to tools that could harm others need a measure of control to keep access from those that would do us harm. If you have issue about that, then why don't you remove your antivirus and firewall from your pc and see what people with access to tools do to your computer...
 
akelly999 said:
Playing devil's advocate. Blaming just the user and not the availability of said tools is foolish. Why not have guns and explosives freely available at the local walmart? Not everyone has a measure of self control thus access to tools that could harm others need a measure of control to keep access from those that would do us harm. If you have issue about that, then why don't you remove your antivirus and firewall from your pc and see what people with access to tools do to your computer...
Click to expand...

Guns are available at the local walmart (well, depends if the walmart is within city limits or not). And I'm sure so are the parts to create explosives.
 
teenk said:
Guns are available at the local walmart (well, depends if the walmart is within city limits or not). And I'm sure so are the parts to create explosives.
Click to expand...

QFT. My brother has a degree in chemical engineering. Should we ban his brain? Becuase with his brain and a trip to Home Depot we can build some pretty scary shit.
 
Someone missed the "freely" part of the argument. BTW, the nitrogen fertilizers carried by home depot and others are coated to prevent being used as an explosive (courtesy of Timothy McVeigh) so a brother would have to look elsewhere for that... Now if you wish to build a fuel air explosive, then a trip to autozone would be more productive.
 
To further extrapolate my thesis, a certain amount of censorship (a horrible term to be sure) is a necessary evil (be it information, or access to material). Otherwise, a form of tyranny develops from those willing to use tools (material or informative) in an immoral and destructive manner to further their own ends. Its just a abstract from the rules of government used by civilization to maintain a certain degree of order and civility. Fundamentally it is a necessary component of the social contract.

To Wit, if I gave (whomever...) free access to a gun, a bullet, and unrestricted access to former president Bush's bedroom; who here in the forum could honestly say they would avoid the temptation to thank him for the past 8 years? Not enough people, that is why we have rules and restricted access.

btw, I did vote for Bush and what he's done is nothing compared to Lincoln, Roosevelt or Eisenhower.
 
That it then its decided!! Shut down the internet, burn all the books!!
 
Well the terrorists use cell phones too. Are they going to go after them? There are only two reasons why people point fingures at companies like Google... 1.. they think Google is the Evil empire because they are successful and 2.. because they have a lot of money and are a prime target for lawsuits. Are they looking at the governments that made these satalite images available, of the internet for making the data accessable to the end users, or any servey company or map maker. They seem to be looking more into Google than say where these terrorists came from, what group trained and equiped them, who masterminded the plan, and what people/group/country helped finance it in the first place. No lets blame Google. What a waste of time.
 
Hamas rockets are fired in an arc of about 30 degrees and have a random fuel load sending them 500 feet to 2 miles. Not real accurate there.. google maps doesn't really aid them.
 
I wonder if they use the free version or the $400 pro-version =P

A typical day at the Hamas HQ:
"Okey listen up, today our goal is to hit the...hey Mashmud, stop playing C&C Generals when we are having a meeting! I hope you are at least playing GLA...what!? You are playing as the Americans? What do you mean they are better?! Infidel we will use you as a human rocket!"
 
QUICK! Somebody ban all maps before TEH TERRORISTS use them against us! What, you're complaining about restriction of freedoms? Screw that, there's TERRORISTS to be stopped!
 
Did you know that Rainbow Six Vegas 2 aided terrorists in the understanding of US special forces?
 
Anything that aids you will aid them.

Pretty simple concept, google is just leveling the playing field tis all.

I'd say google earth would come in handy if I wanted to shoot a few rockets at someone I didn't like, because I could see what sort of buildings/etc are around the target area, work out their heading from my location and work out escape routes/etc.
 
Myg said:
Anything that aids you will aid them.

Pretty simple concept, google is just leveling the playing field tis all.

I'd say google earth would come in handy if I wanted to shoot a few rockets at someone I didn't like, because I could see what sort of buildings/etc are around the target area, work out their heading from my location and work out escape routes/etc.
Click to expand...

exactly. it's not the road maps they are not complaining about. it's the satellite images. even the street view can show you ground-level what would be a feasible target.
thieves can use the same thing. all you have to do is pick an area where rich people live and google street view has pictures of the insides of their garages and their exotic car collection to steal. heh
 
Without a doubt it can aid and has helped terrorists, but how much more does it aid them as compared to maps. Personally I would use both if I were planning something as they both have their advantages. Google Earth is an interesting app, but do we really need it? How hard was it to obtain satellite imagery of locations before Google Earth compared to now? Google Earth is not like a cellphone or a chemical engineering degree. Cellphones are almost a necessity today but I am sure we can easily live without Google Earth. People can't just build a fuel air bomb or make their own ammonium nitrate, this requires a degree of skill not everyone has, unlike Google Earth which a 5 yr old could use easily.
 
I'm perfectly fine with Google Earth. Yes, some things should be limited in it. Like military bases around the world or their other key assests for their national security.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top