It's a whole new world today with Twitter and Facebook Revolutions.
Is it possible we could have a Google War?
Might seem far-fetched, but Google Maps is already so influential that when it makes a mistake in assigning international boundaries, it has serious repercussions.
Consider a recent dispute created by the way Google Maps draws the boundary between The Netherlands and Germany.
The problem is in how Google Maps divides Dollart Bay, which splits the Dutch side from the German side. As you can see from this map Google draws the line so close to the German side that it blocks the industrial port of Emden.
Now, the actual border is in something of a dispute. The Germans say it is close to the Dutch shore and the Dutch say it is closer to the German shore. But not even the Dutch are claiming that their rights extend into Emden's harbor.
Naturally, the folks in Emden are upset.
The city council of Emden was not amused, but has had a hard time communicating the depth - and justification - of their displeasure to the map fiends at Google. Over a year ago, Emden notified their internet overlords of the error; no correction has been forthcoming. The city has now asked its Bundesland of Lower Saxony to act on its behalf. Maybe Google’s unwillingness to un-fail its Emden map has to do with the fact that there is no agreed border to correct to: whichever of both claims Google Maps would choose to represent, it would seem to support one side of the ongoing argument. Could it be that Google Maps isn’t equipped to simply shade disputed areas?
Germany and The Netherlands aren't going to go to war over this or even foam at the mouth. But what happens when Google Maps screws up the border between Pakistan and India or the border between China and Vietnam? Or between Ethiopia and Eritrea?
They already messed up the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica and heaped fuel on the fire of a longstanding dispute that has resulted in Nicaragua sending troops to its border with Costa Rica where the Rio San Juan meets the Caribbean Sea.
By November 2, 2010, he (Edén Pastora, Nicaragua’s director of dredging on the Río San Juan) had discovered that Google Maps’s border gives Nicaragua the top part of Isla Calero, and subsequently used this to justify the troop encampment on the island (translation). This prompted Costa Rica’s foreign ministry to contact Google, which in turn scrambled to check with the source of its data (the US State Department). Google has now said that the current Google Maps border for the area is wrong and that it will be updated as soon as possible.