Why I love Google and KaZaA
Internet is a great leveller. I have access to the same amount of information as Bill Gates does, and I can research about Zulu tribes of Africa as fast as him, and maybe even faster. If this billiionaire can communicate with his programmers in India, sitting in his Microsoft's office in Redmond, I can also chat with my friend in Australia from the comfort of my rented apartment. I can even spam his hotmail inbox.

I don't have a grudge against the richest man on the planet; in fact I salute him for his contributions to making the myriad possibilities of the internet a reality. But two men whom I hold in awe and are more deserving of our praise is Sergey Brin and Larry Page: co-founders of Google.

Google has become a part of my life, and for that matter, any netizen's. Google is the place where you take your first step in any online journey -- be it for news, serious research materials, images, games, downloads, or just cheap thrills. It's simple, minimalist design with its almost funny logo has endeared itself to internet novice as well as hardened cyber animals.

The meteoric rise of google also symbolises a story that we all love: triumph of the underdog over giants. In 1998, when google first came into the internet scene with its search only utilty, few people recognised its worth. Now, it is the world's most popular search engine, and riding on this strength, google is eyeing other lucrative avenues in cyberspace: today's google homepage introduces a shopping channel, froogle, that will soon rival that of Yahoo, its chief competitor. Google also has announced that it will also foray into the email service, a decision that might have already sent chills down the spine of Yahoo and MSN. I am eagerly waiting for the google's email service to start functioning, not because I am a 'goonatic'(I just coined it) but because it will solve two of my worst enduring nightmares -- limited mail storage capacity and spams. Gmail, google's email service, is offering -- hold your breath -- 1000 MB of storage free, with in-built search functionality to boot, and no ad banners. Google is also rolling out its IPO, which is shaping up to be to hottest offering from the Silicon Valley in many years after the dotcom bust.

I suppose I don't have to wax eloquent on why I am a Kazaa fan. Internet is all about freedom of choice, and if some music labels think that is ruining their business, it's because we have realised thier greed, and no longer willing to be taken for a ride. Even mainstream artist like George Michael has railed against the exploitative tactics of record companies; he has decided to release his album through internet to escape their stranglehold. Following him is Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, who described recording contracts as an “absolute disgrace” which belonged to “a Dickensian era”. He is particularly against industry practise in which singers pay for recording and the music labels retain the rights, keeping to themselves all the profits while the artists get peanuts. Fed up with this "immoral" system, Mr Hucknall has set up his own company and plans to re-record old output and release it in competition with existing recordings.

It should delight both Michael and Mick that Kazaa is already undermining the records' abillity to dupe the public; sales of CDs and cassettes are going south as file-sharing takes on a global proportion.

Then, Kazaa, like Google, is also a great leveller. I downloaded the Billboards' top 10 without having to pay a penny. Isn't this great? All talks about North-South disparity should end here. Long live Kazaa!!!