Blaming Google Earth for Mumbai

This was probably inevitable:

An Indian Court has been called to ban Google Earth amid suggestions the online satellite imaging was used to help plan the terror attacks that killed more than 170 people in Mumbai last month.

A petition entered at the Bombay High Court alleges that the Google Earth service, "aids terrorists in plotting attacks." Advocate Amit Karkhanis has urged the court to direct Google to blur images of sensitive areas in the country until the case is decided[...]

Police in Mumbai have said the terrorists familiarised themselves with the streets of Mumbai's financial capital using satellite images, according to the sole gunman to be captured alive.

This isn't a new issue. The al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade also apparently used Google Earth to plan rocket attacks on Israel. But holding Google responsible for terrorists using its product makes about as much sense as blaming the Wright brothers for 9/11.

Just as the fact that terrorists take advantage of the laxer security regimes in democratic societies isn't a reason to unduly curb civil liberties, it would be a mistake to curtail the development of useful technologies because the bad guys have figured out how to use them too.

I don't mean to come across as some kind of libertarian tech-evangelist, and I think that some reasonable precautions--like not allowing Google to street-level map a military base--should be taken. But this is the price we pay for technological progress. As Tom Friedman might say, the world is flat for terrorists too.

It would also be a bit sketchy if India took any steps to restrict Google Earth at the same time they're developing a domestic competitor.