Here’s the very beginning of Google’s Code of Conduct:

“Don’t be evil.” Googlers generally apply those words to how we serve our users. But “Don’t be evil” is much more than that. Yes, it’s about providing our users unbiased access to information, focusing on their needs and giving them the best products and services that we can. But it’s also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law, acting honorably and treating each other with respect.

The Google Code of Conduct is one of the ways we put “Don’t be evil” into practice. It’s built around the recognition that everything we do in connection with our work at Google will be, and should be, measured against the highest possible standards of ethical business conduct.

(“Don’t be evil,” eh? This from the company that wants to sell books that you can only read online.)

Another part of the Google “Code” says, bluntly, “Obey the Law.” Don’t be evil? Obey the law? Kinda hard to reconcile with this report from WebGuild Silicon Valley:

Google has been quietly laying off staff and up to 10,000 jobs could be on the chopping block …

By law, Google is required to report layoffs publicly and with the SEC however, Google has managed to get around the legal requirement. In fact, one of the ways Google was able to meet Wall Street’s Q3 earnings expectations was by trimming “operational” expenses.

Google reports to the SEC that it has 20,123 employees but in reality it has 30,000. Why the discrepancy? Google classifies 10,000 of the employees as temporary operational expenses or “workers” …

So, how does Google get around the SEC requirement regarding material information? Google has hundreds of lawyers figuring out how not to get caught. One of them is by moving workers from job to job every few months so that their status remains temporary. That is why you probably have never spoken to the same person twice at Google and that is also why there is somebody new on the job and most times you know more about their job than they do.

Well, as long as Sergey Brin’s wife has enough capital to keep marketing her creepy in-home DNA testing kits, I guess evil remains in the eye of the beholder.

(Hat tip: Deceiver reader Neoterikos)