While this would make a statement, somewhere I saw a good point--someone will be googling to see if the snake that bit them was poisonous. Google is now critical infrastructure, like power. If it goes out, people will quite possibly die.
If a snake bites you, and you are not sure if it is poisonous or not, assume that it is and go to the hospital. Life or death health issues should not be googled, they should be taken care of by professionals.
How about heart attack symptoms? Directions to the hospital? The phone number for your doctor (on his website, which you find by googling). How to safely use a chainsaw. What do when your toddler stops breathing. How to perform CPR. Drug contraindications. Where to call in a gas leak.
I'm starting to feel old here...
Fault is irrelevant once the dependence is there. If you're at google, flipping a switch, just like our dependence on power, could cost lives, and if you care about human life, you have to think about it before you do it regardless of whether would say it is your "fault."
I am about as anti-sopa as they come, so I'd personally like to see a gigantic message, and see them name names and explain what services won't exist if this passes.
Similarly, the time spent looking up how to do CPR would be better spent calling emergency services so that they head out as soon as possible. Emergency dispatchers can talk you through CPR while you wait for them to arrive.
You see, the thing about CPR is that it's not really meant to revive somebody. It's meant to keep oxygen in their brain until something can actually be done. Delaying the call for help so that you can learn all of this on Google is the worst thing that you could do.
I think if Google just put the message at somewhere on the homepage, it would have a profound effect, given how bare the Google homepage is. That, of course, wouldn't get the message across to the many people who use built-in search in browsers and other such methods of accessing SERPs.
Comparing critical services to political slogans is mentally lazy. Yes, the power grid in my city is "too big too fail" this winter--because people can and do die when that happens.
The information Google returns can be false, misleading, under-researched, or all of the above. You can't actually rely on the information you find. Even something as simple as 'what to do in the event of receiving a concussion' can be riddled with misinformation. Practicing Web-medicine is illadvised.
I'm not sure if you're suggesting that it was you or I who is guilty of mental laziness but the entire world laughed as we called our banks "too big to fail" and you're regurgitating the exact same mantra. The only difference is you've switched Goldman Sachs with Google.
Also the thought of using Google to literally "save your life" from a snake bite is a whole separate argument.
Note: This is actually true--I "fixed their computer" recently.