The internet is once again abuzz about one of the most speculated “non-Google products” ever. No, not the Google phone which apparently will make its debut next year but instead the GDrive. It may finally make its appearance in a few months and if this is true, 2008 will be a big year for Google indeed.

But now the focus is slowly being moved to the possible legal implications of Google allowing their users to upload anything they want to Google’s servers. For example, Google could face the wrath of music companies if GDrive users store illegal MP3’s there. Or Hollywood may have a few things to say to Google’s lawyers if it is found that illegal copies of movies and television programmes are found to be stored on Google-owned servers.

Google’s aim seems to be to allow users to access their stored information wherever there is a computer with an internet connection. Anything that you might have previously stored on your PC hard-drive can now be accessed on Google servers. So wherever you go, your infomation goes with you. A great idea but absolutely rife with potential problems. Does Google have a mechanism for flagging possibly illegal content and then having it removed in a timely fashion? What are the implications if Google deletes files it deems to be illegal? Do they have to notify the original uploader first? Does the GDrive user who originally uploaded it have any legal recourse against Google if they disagree with Google’s assertion that the content is illegal? If anyone complains about stolen material being stored on GDrive, will Google remove it immediately or will they use the eBay excuse that they “are just a platform and therefore not responsible for the actions of their users”?

On the other hand, Google does have experience with these types of problems with YouTube. Hardly a day goes by without someone uploading a copyrighted movie segment or TV programme. So to be fair, Google perhaps does have a procedure in place to deal with these problems but the question that springs to my mind is : is such a procedure a pro-active one (in other words, does Google act first before anyone can complain?) or is it a procedure modelled along the lines of Craigslist where they solely rely on users to flag it and report it in? I call this the “hear no evil, see no evil” policy. Or to put it another way, Google won’t act unless someone complains first. Until then, they would just turn a blind eye.

But what could be the real problem for Google is that they are seemingly planning to be turning GDrive into a platform where users can share their files with other users. So in other words, it would be a Peer to Peer file sharing network. Google’s lawyers must be upping their caffiene intake by now.

Some sites though are more focusing on the privacy angle for users rather than the legal angles. For example, will Google run Gmail-type ads alongside users files? Will Google scan the files to determine their contents so more focused ads can be delivered? I don’t know about you but I would not be happy having the contents of my personal files being scanned by Google.

As one site points out, Gmail users have been running their own GDrives for years by using their huge Gmail accounts as replacement hard-drives. But with the expected 2008 launch of the Google phone, a possible launch of an official GDrive with a bundled in Google Docs and cheap internet access via the GPhone to get to those files, expect the Google stock to go even higher than before. Picture the grins on the faces of the Google shareholders.