GoogleSerfs

Google recently required a Google+ account to post YouTube comments. This caused a tremendous outcry, including numerous petitions to roll this back.

I'm pretty sure there will be no rollback.

We've seen the same thing play out with Facebook privacy policy, Digg’s redesign, and numerous other platforms.

There was a lot of teeth gnashing and moaning, the companies held their ground, and the whole “outcry" dissolved in a few weeks.

The reason for this is very simple: The threats are empty.

If you don't like YouTube's new policy, what are you going to do? Stop using it? Yeah, sure.

Free services such as YouTube have turned us all into digital serfs. We may forget that fact, but every once in a while events like this remind us of what few “rights" we really have under the terms of service.

Related: Society.