given the slow response to this post I will assume like me Wazuans were unable to read the all blog or its difficult to understand where the problem is,I mean Google just contacted Mocality listings on the Net by using a sophisticated technology to access the database.

Either this is unethical but not illegal or Mocality is just threatened ,actually I dont understand what the fuss is all about.

Google (Google Kenya and eventually Google India) then went ahead to make calls to Mocality-listed companies and claimed that Google were in a partnership with Mocality to provide websites to these companies. Google accessed business information that belonged to Mocality and proceeded to "want to profit" from the information. Read the transcripts of the phone conversations.

They dont seem to see this as an opportunity suing the company would be free marketing for them not forgetting the cash that would come with winning the suit.

this will earn Mocality quite a bit of airtime in the court of public opinion yet it does not rule out the eventuality of taking google to a court of law and possibly get some big guns (M$) to fund its war chest.

tech crunch and boing boing are running with it
http://techcrunch.com/20...ining-a-kenyan-startup/

http://boingboing.net/?p=138807

Why are corporates so insensitive to cultural naunces? I just dont understand how someone[with all due respect]can call me from india, heavy accent barrier notwitstanding, to request data on buidling my bizna at riveroli a website. BBK have also outsourced to india and card queries were being dealt with from there. Trouble you need all the patience to catch the lahaja from gujarati!! Any time i would rather deal with a local Omieri !

Mocality pulls Google's pants down!

Such is the way of this world. The biggest, nastiest, stealthiest threat to your success is ... no, guess again... Yourself! you are your own worst enemy.

So Mocality claims, having invested/paid KShs 11m to the public who assisted them in listing 170,000 Kenyan businesses in their online directory:

1. Google comes up with Getting Kenyan Businesses Online

2. But decides to take a Kenyan shortcut by hiring a group of trolls to go through Mocality Directory

3. And then proceed to call each business one by one, offering to create a website

4. And to make the pitch even more convincing to each business user:
- they claim Google is working or has approval from Mocality
- they malign Mocality just a little bit, as dishonest
- with nary a word to Mocality


But Stefan Magdalinski, Mocality CEO is a wily adversary. He tracks, plots, records, and captures evidence which is now on a blog link:
Google what where you thinking?

Everyone at Google Kenya is scrambling! There motto/ethos DON'T BE EVIL has been revised to DON'T BE EVIL ALWAYS

American companies simply buy off bad PR. Google will watch to see if this thing will burn out. If Mocality move it to the next level i.e. the courts, they will be offered loose change from Google's profits which is more cash than they can ever dream of. Case quickly closed and joins hundreds of similar statistics.

David vs Goliath stories. Me like such heroic stories. Seems KE guys are getting tech savvy Reminds me of that facebook KE hacker. Hmmm...

I stand informed. Still Google has more than enough cash to easily settle out of court. A small infraction in global business terms where any settlement is more likely in the tens. For reputation, they will sacrifice some managers+staff then make a PR announcement highlighting changes in internal processes.

This incident has hundreds of similar precedents in corporate America some of which never make the news. And long term, Naspers/Mocality needs Google more than Google needs them.