Google's Secret Conference at Odds with Claim to "Openness"

• Annual conference begins amid tight security
• Media and public barred unless specifically invited
• Zeitgeist taking place at Grove hotel in Hertfordshire
• Bill Clinton and Annie Lennox among speakers

For a company that describes transparency as one of its ‘core values’, it was something of a private party.
Google’s annual conference began yesterday amid tight security, with members of the media and public barred unless specifically invited.

Civil liberty campaigners warned that Google – which has been accused of invading the privacy of its customers by harvesting details about their online activity – was using its ‘dominance to influence decision-makers behind closed doors’ at the Zeitgeist event.

Invited: Leftwing Celebrities  Newsreaders and Z-listers made up the bulk of the guestlist, while Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow and Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark were among the representatives from the media

It comes after the Daily Mail revealed the astonishing scale of contact between the internet giant and the Tories, with meetings held once a month on average since the election.

Zeitgeist has previously been a popular forum for such meetings. David Cameron spoke at the conference in 2006 and in 2007 was flown to California to address its US equivalent.

Read the rest here.

UPDATE on Google: blocking  map directions for Jews in Judea:
http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/05/is-google-maps-blocking-judea-and.html

Arutz Sheva has received several complaints over the past few weeks from residents of Judea and Samaria (Shomron) who use Google Maps to receive driving directions before setting out on the roads. The residents complained that in recent weeks, when they looked for directions between two points in Judea and Samaria, they received an error message which said that no information is available on the points in question.
One of the complainants, Joe from Havat Gilad (Gilad Farm) in the Shomron, told Arutz Sheva on Monday that the problem goes beyond trips from one point to another within Judea and Samaria, and also extends to trips from within Judea and Samaria to points outside of the area.
It should be noted that those who wish to see driving directions from a point outside of Judea and Samaria to a point within the area have no problems accessing the site and receive no error messages. However, they must be sure to use discretion and not attempt to go through Arab villages and towns, even if that is the shortest route.