[AlexBrith]

Google has always gotten a lot of criticism for participating in the ChiCom's 'Great Firewall of China'. Supposedly a lot of the stuff the ChiComs use in their internet censorship and suppression and going after dissidents originates as business security software they buy or steal in the west and modify and use for their own purposes.


Google reports China-based attack, says pullout possible

By Jeanne Meserve and Mike M. Ahlers, CNN
January 13, 2010 2:34 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Google said Tuesday the company and at least 20 others were victims of a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" originating in China in mid-December, evidently to gain access to the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

"Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective," according to a statement by David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer for Google, operator of the most popular Internet search engine.

Drummond said that as a result of the attacks, Google has decided it is no longer willing to consider censorship of its Google site in China and may have to shut down its site and its offices in that nation.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/12/g...ina/index.html

An update:

Google relaxes self-censorship in China

By Jo Kent, CNN
January 13, 2010 11:39 a.m. EST

Beijing, China (CNN) -- Within hours of Google's announcement that it was no longer willing to self-censor in China, Google.cn was retrieving results for sensitive topics including the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square, the Dalai Lama and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

Previously, a search for "Tiananmen" would only return images of the square itself. By early Wednesday, Google.cn linked to pages with information about the bloody government crackdown in 1989, though the page appears to have fluctuated between uncensored and somewhat censored throughout Wednesday.

Google said it was rolling back its self-censorship this week in a move that seems to indicate that -- despite attempts to build strong government relations and retool its own stated ethics -- the search engine has finally had enough of doing business the China way.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/13/g...xit/index.html

[Innockcroff]

The current China reminds me a lot of the post WWII federal government. Very hungry, and willing to do anything it takes to gain more power and control. Our nation exxxploded in wealth after we saved the world from the Nazi's. Rightfully so. But we did so by putting much of the undeveloped world under our heel. We engaged in less than ethical trade practices, and wheedled a good deal out of every interaction.

The difference, to me, is our foreign aid spending. China has zero, we have more than the rest of the world combined. We will victimize people to gain wealth, so that we can give that wealth back to them (in a smaller amount) and then revel in being the good guy. If China would possibly find a way to give back to those it victimizes, maybe they would have more success, too?

In all seriousness, I see this happening more and more as time goes on. Eastern philosophy is far separated from western. They are much more direct and straight forward, where in the west it is more like a dance, very subtle. In the east you can badmouth your competition. It is normal. In the west, if you do that you risk losing business because we don't generally like that.

Western companies will either have to learn to do things the China way, or will have to just not deal with them. I hope for the latter. Choke the dragon. But not until we pay back the debt (or ensure that any war we have is definitely winnable).