Add Google to List of Mao's Collaborators
American hi-tech companies are betraying the interests of Freedom in the PRC. Google is the latest to capitulate to China's cruel and foolish suppression of its people's free expression. A couple weeks ago it was Microsoft, who says they had no choice. Who says they had no choice?
Here are some stories on it:
Now guess how I found this list. I think most of us are kind of locked into Google and loyal to it because of the quality of what they do. I never expected better from Microsoft, but Google always commanded my respect and trust. I'm very curious to see how they will react to the story itself. They unfortunately have some control over how it is spun – should they choose to exercise it. I have said elsewhere that we should not underestimate the enemies of the Internet. We have something precious here that should be carefully protected.
1/25/2006 11:55 PM
posted by jj mollo @ 1/26/2006 12:12:00 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
there is always a choice. Google just did not find it palatable....or lacked the courage and maybe the moral fibre for it
Came to you from Mallory. Excellent points - I've been saying this repeatedly. I am very disturbed to see how much we aid and abet the suppression of the Chinese people through our national policies.
Yes, Mallory, that's the trouble with greed. People always say that someone else will do it anyway.
Saurkraut,
With regard to China, we have a tiger by the tail. China's economy is growing exponentially, three times as fast as our own. I believe our actions instigated that avalanche, but it's not something we control any longer. China is really our biggest problem and will interfere with everything we do from now on. We are operating on the faith that they will become more democratic and peace-loving as they become wealthier. This was Richard Nixon's choice, and I hope he was right.
The important thing to do is to resist them where we have to and assist them where we can. We need to defend Taiwan to the MADD limit, and we need to resist pandering to the PRC's totalitarian instincts. Only within this framework can we hope for mutual survival.
Google should be ashamed.
I saw a report about this on BBC tv while in Bombay. It doesn't seem settled yet on the censorship. But I do admit I haven't had time to read all your links. Let's hope Google does the right thing...Baby steps...
Here is a technical analysis of the censorship issue, found of course by using Google. The conclusion is a little chilling.
Contrary to earlier utopian theories of the Internet, it takes very little effort for governments to cause certain information simply to vanish for a huge number of people.
In my business, we have a saying:
Nothing fails like success.
Google's honest, open, forthright way of business made it truly a household name. Actually it made the Branding benchmark: Its name became a verb.
Now it's up in the rarified air. A place where multinational corporations and governments of millions and billions tango and fandango, and it's gotten there in less time than it takes most of us to hit puberty.
They were in over their heads, and they lost their way.
I'm not defending Google. I'm just offering a potential explanation for their behavior.
Yeharr
A Chinese cyberdissident, Zhang Lin, was complaining about this last in October, 2004. He was arrested in 2005.
There have also been allegations within the US that Google has censored listings because of SLAPPs, particularly accusing the Church of Scientology.
BP,
I agree with you completely. Apparently, however, they don't understand their own brand. Why do we rely on Google? Because we thought we could rely on Google! I wonder if Wikipedia will be the next to sell out. I think that after the Internet itself and Google heretofore, Wikipedia has been the most important purveyor of Truth on the planet. They are a communal creation, not-for-profit I believe, so maybe there's hope.
They claim that the information is not kept in any central controllable place:
"There is no one central point where censorship can be imposed, and therefore censorship by any given group, restriction to "officially reported" sources, or "pushing" of any particular viewpoint, whether official or unofficial, is difficult to achieve and almost always fails after a time."
When you search from Wikipedia, does anyone know whether that goes through a Google process?
More bad news involving Google. According to Adam Fields, Google keeps logs of all IP addresses along with there associated search. In another post he talks about what they do with cookies.
Post a Comment
<< Home