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Tech Giants Behave Like Nations

eBay boycott shows how 'social contract' can be mishandled

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 29, 2008 4:45 PM CST

(Newser) – A comparison of two of this week’s big tech news stories, the end of an eBay boycott and Google’s announcement of the construction of a new trans-Pacific fiber optic cable, show how the tech giants have moved beyond old corporate paradigms, writes Michael Malone for ABC News. With business models that involve unprecedented consumer participation, these companies behave increasingly like sovereign nations.

They must treat the “social contract” with their most involved consumers as deferentially as their bottom line, which eBay’s flippant reaction to the boycott shows it didn't understand. Google, Malone writes, has done a better job relating to its consumer/participants, and has also managed to stay focused on vital business needs, like the cheap bandwidth its new cable will soon provide.

In this photo provided by eBay, incoming Chief Executive John Donahoe in shown. Donahoe will become the new CEO after longtime Chief Executive Meg Whitman plans to retire at the end of March. (AP Photo/eBay, ho)
In this photo provided by eBay, incoming Chief Executive John Donahoe in shown. Donahoe will become the new CEO after longtime Chief Executive Meg Whitman plans to retire at the end of March. (AP Photo/eBay,...   (Associated Press)
People look over the Google booth at the 2008 Macworld at the Moscone Center January 15, 2008 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
People look over the Google booth at the 2008 Macworld at the Moscone Center January 15, 2008 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)   (Getty Images)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin walks the exhibit hall almost unnoticed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Google does not have a booth at CES.  (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin walks the exhibit hall almost unnoticed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Google does not have a booth at CES. (AP Photo/Paul...   (Associated Press)
EBay CEO Meg Whitman, right, talks with eBay's John Donahoe, left, as they arrive for the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference in this July 11, 2007,  file photo, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Whitman, 51, had been reported to be plotting the move and handing the job to Donahoe,...
EBay CEO Meg Whitman, right, talks with eBay's John Donahoe, left, as they arrive for the annual Allen and Co.'s media conference in this July 11, 2007, file photo, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Whitman, 51,...   (Associated Press)
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