Senator threatens to ban GMail!

The worst in patronizing politicking: "California state senator Liz Figueroa has threatened to write legislation banning Google's service unless changes are made." Folks, if you don't like GMail’s TOS then don't use it. For a politician to simply remove that choice is obviously self-serving grandstanding and the worst in political pandering. Cato was too kind to her Excerpt:

Regardless of the merits of Google's approach, legislation would be counterproductive. Without strong revenues from its targeted ads, it's unlikely that Google could afford to offer each user a gigabyte of storage space, one of GMail's main selling points. They would be forced to trim the service back, and perhaps abandon the idea altogether. Sen. Figueroa might claim the mantle of consumer protection, but consumers don't benefit from having choices taken away from them.

Google has been candid about its business model, and users should be allowed to choose for themselves whether they're comfortable with Google's terms of service. If consumers think a free gigabyte of storage space is worth the risk to their privacy, they should be free to make that choice, no matter what politicians in Sacramento or Washington think about it.

Here's the press release for the bill, by the way. One woman who thinks she knows better than Google what Google's customers want--and isn't afraid to use her political powers to impose her will. Or, more likely, just thinks this is a good way to get votes.