At first glance, Google's latest plan for global domination sounds very cool.
Everyone's favorite pedal-to-the-metal, innovate-or-die tech company is throwing its Mensa-level brainpower behind the development of a computer operating system to rival Microsoft's Windows.
But that's why you want to be worried.
"They have so much market power, you've got to be concerned that they'll use that power in a way others can't compete with," said Gary Reback, a Silicon Valley antitrust lawyer best known for spearheading opposition to Microsoft Corp.'s once-market-dominating practices.
Google may give away its Chrome operating system for free, just as it does its Chrome browser, its Gmail Web mail, its Google Maps, its Google News and, of course, its team-to-beat search engine.
Google also gives away access to YouTube and all sorts of other nifty offerings, including Google Earth, Google Docs, Google Groups and its Android operating system for cellphones.
Google's your best tech buddy.
Until, that is, it's not.
"Google accounts for an ungodly share of the money that flows through the Web space," Reback said. "That creates a lot of concern."
OK, let's take a deep breath. Nobody's even seen Google's new operating system yet, so it could be the Cadillac of computer software or it could be just another Chevy.
Also, let's remember that not everything Google touches turns to cyber-gold (case in point, the company's Froogle shopping service).
"At this point, Google still has a long way to go before conquering the world," said Art Brodsky, spokesman for Public Knowledge, a digital rights watchdog.
Still, I get nervous whenever a big company controls hefty portions of any particular market, even when its success rests largely on building better mousetraps. And I get extra nervous whenever a company controls huge volumes of customer data, which it can leverage for commercial gain without a second thought about people's privacy.
And I get extra, extra nervous when I think about how competition can be stifled because a company is so dominant, it enjoys market power that not only makes it hard for rivals to put up a fight but also prevents fresh-faced upstarts from gaining a toehold.
"As a consumer, it's hard to complain when you're being given incredible new things for free," said Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "But who knows where this ends up."
