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The open vs. closed debate is a little more complicated than it first appears, particularly when it comes to Google.

In a recent interview with the Guardian newspaper, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he believes the future of the "open Internet" is at risk, because of the rapid growth of "walled gardens" such as Facebook and the app-device ecosystem developed by Apple. But if that's true, then why is the company trying to build its own closed network, known as Google+? Because the open vs. closed debate is a little more complicated than it first appears, particularly when it comes to Google.