Google Renaming the Planet, Antagonizing Iran in the Process
Thursday, April 17th, 2008;
-- Andy Beal |
We no longer have to worry only about what President Bush will say to provoke the nuclear-arms seeking Iranian government. Google’s thrown its hat into the ring too!
According to The Financial Express web site, Iran is slamming Google for naming the "Persian Gulf" the "Arabic Gulf" in its Google Earth application. That’s got the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini all worked-up, accusing Google of a "plot" against Iran.
"Raising such issues about a historically-documented and undeniable term is illegal," he said. The official characterised Google’s move as a "political ambition" while commending Iranians living in the country and overseas for sending protest e-mails to the web portal, Iranian media reports said.
The controversy evoked strong reactions across Iran with the Islamic Iran Participation Party saying that it raises suspicions that Google Earth managers and experts are "knowingly or unknowingly" following the lead of external powers aiming to provoke conflict in the region, the reports said.
While you might think the two names are interchangeable, clearly Iran doesn’t think so and even the United Nations officially refers to it as the "Persian Gulf."
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April 17th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Wow that is something else eh? We’ve never even heard of it referred to as the “Arabic Gulf”. Perhaps Google should simply cut the crap and not mess with a threat like Iran.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Maybe someone needs an atlas for Christmas next year. I’ve never heard reference to the Arabic Gulf either.
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April 17th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Haha wow….did anyone see this?
http://arabian-gulf.info/
That was on Google’s results for “Arabic Gulf”
Check it out… too funny.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Brick, you are amazing! I wonder how all of us would react if the Gulf of Mexico was suddenly called by Google as the Gulf of Texas!
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April 17th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
That’s SAD, where are we going to?
We fought Stalin and Hitler who were known to try to change facts; and now we have Google, in America, chosing the same path.
What a shame!
Google’s management should avoid discrediting itself and appear like a propaganda prostitute. By doing so they’re undermining what Google made its fame about: “Accurate Info”…
Someone should send them the below link in case if they created this mess due to ignorance:
http://daneshjoo.org/article/publish/article_2385.shtml
April 18th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Who knows that this “slight” mistake could invite a big slamming…Hope it wouldn’t be a greater politic issue.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:07 am
As long as the big G doesn’t claim their software is Geographically correct, nobody can do anything about it.
If I were to make a map of the States and name California “Caulifornia” or something like that, it’s my problem. If I were to claim my map was geographically correct, on the other hand, I’d have a big issue on my hands. Just my 2 cents.
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April 18th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Conflict in this region will kill Google an most of high-tech business in USA.
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