Pedaalemmer
13-03-2006, 14:23
The fact Chinese government is forcing companies to censor information on the internet is stupid and medieval. The internet is the biggest information source there is. This will affect people’s lives in a bad way. Not knowing what is truly happening outside your own country or history facts that are twisted by your own government is really a giant step backwards. :chair: :chair:
Don`t you agree? think about it...your own goverment is controlling all information that you can acces :eek:
Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine in China has
reignited the debate about how businesses conduct themselves in oppressive
regimes.
China - with its population of 1.3bn - is an incredibly attractive marketplace
for both off and online businesses but its strict rules about what information
citizens can access, present companies setting up shop there with a moral
dilemma.
In order to run a locally-based internet businesses, companies must sign an
agreement to censor themselves - something which Google has resisted doing until
now.
This has put it at a disadvantage compared to rivals such as Yahoo - which has
been complying with the Chinese censors for the past three years.
Agreeing to block access to websites making reference to material which the
Chinese government regards as sensitive - such as democratic reform and
Taiwanese independence - will speed up the site - currently slowed down by
Chinese-imposed filters - and offer Google a greater foothold in the burgeoning
Chinese market.
No to e-mail
Google has acknowledged that its decision to launch in China will be seen as
inconsistent with its mission to make information universally accessible but
believes it has little choice.
"We don't want to risk becoming irrelevant or useless due to the way that our
content is blocked or filtered currently," Google's senior policy adviser Andrew
McLaughlin told the BBC Radio Four's Today programme.
"We feel it is a step forward. Not a big step forward but a step forward. We
understand that many people will find the decision either puzzling or
objectionable," he said.
Google is hoping to avoid some of the criticism Yahoo has attracted,
particularly for the part it played in passing on e-mail data to the authorities
which resulted in a Chinese journalist being jailed for ten years.
Google has said that it will not introduce e-mail or blogging services in China
until it can strike a balance between user safety and local laws.
It also claims that it will inform users if the content they access via its
search engine has been censored, something that other search firms based in
China do not do.
Don't be evil
Freedom of expression isn't a minor principle that can be pushed aside
when dealing with a dictatorship
Julien Pain, Reporters Without Borders
Critics believe gaining market share in China has been Google's primary
motivation for its change of heart and it is true that the firm has been losing
ground to a Beijing-based web search firm, Baidu.com, in which Google owns a 3%
share.
Internet search users in China are predicted to increase from about 100 million
currently to 187 million in two years' time.
Rebecca Mackinnon, research fellow at the Berkman Center on Internet and Society
at Harvard Law School, thinks it is time the company look again at its mission
statement.
"They have taken a step away from their motto of 'don't be evil'. What is
interesting is that it now seems to be 'don't be any more evil than necessary'"
she told the Today programme.
The fact that Google has recently refused to hand over data on what people are
searching for to the US Department of Justice has led critics to accuse it of
operating double standards.
The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says Google is being
hypocritical and described the launch of Google.cn as "a black day for freedom
of expression in China".
"Like its competitors, the company says it has no choice and must obey Chinese
laws, but this is a tired argument," said Julien Pain, head of Reporters Without
Borders' internet freedom desk.
"Freedom of expression isn't a minor principle that can be pushed aside when
dealing with a dictatorship. US firms continue to justify themselves by saying
their presence has a long-term benefit yet the internet in China is becoming
more and more isolated from the outside world and freedom of expression there is
shrinking," he said.
Of course as Chinese web users become more sophisticated they will increasingly
find ways to avoid the censors.
Already bloggers use servers based outside China to avoid monitoring and
government filters are circumvented by changing the spelling of banned words or
using code.
But the fact that outside web firms are prepared to remain in cahoots with the
authorities is not helping the web community, said Mr Pain.
He called on the big names that have a presence in China - Microsoft, Yahoo and
now Google - to get together and make a stand for the freedoms they are so keen
to protect in the west.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4647468.stm
Don`t you agree? think about it...your own goverment is controlling all information that you can acces :eek:
Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine in China has
reignited the debate about how businesses conduct themselves in oppressive
regimes.
China - with its population of 1.3bn - is an incredibly attractive marketplace
for both off and online businesses but its strict rules about what information
citizens can access, present companies setting up shop there with a moral
dilemma.
In order to run a locally-based internet businesses, companies must sign an
agreement to censor themselves - something which Google has resisted doing until
now.
This has put it at a disadvantage compared to rivals such as Yahoo - which has
been complying with the Chinese censors for the past three years.
Agreeing to block access to websites making reference to material which the
Chinese government regards as sensitive - such as democratic reform and
Taiwanese independence - will speed up the site - currently slowed down by
Chinese-imposed filters - and offer Google a greater foothold in the burgeoning
Chinese market.
No to e-mail
Google has acknowledged that its decision to launch in China will be seen as
inconsistent with its mission to make information universally accessible but
believes it has little choice.
"We don't want to risk becoming irrelevant or useless due to the way that our
content is blocked or filtered currently," Google's senior policy adviser Andrew
McLaughlin told the BBC Radio Four's Today programme.
"We feel it is a step forward. Not a big step forward but a step forward. We
understand that many people will find the decision either puzzling or
objectionable," he said.
Google is hoping to avoid some of the criticism Yahoo has attracted,
particularly for the part it played in passing on e-mail data to the authorities
which resulted in a Chinese journalist being jailed for ten years.
Google has said that it will not introduce e-mail or blogging services in China
until it can strike a balance between user safety and local laws.
It also claims that it will inform users if the content they access via its
search engine has been censored, something that other search firms based in
China do not do.
Don't be evil
Freedom of expression isn't a minor principle that can be pushed aside
when dealing with a dictatorship
Julien Pain, Reporters Without Borders
Critics believe gaining market share in China has been Google's primary
motivation for its change of heart and it is true that the firm has been losing
ground to a Beijing-based web search firm, Baidu.com, in which Google owns a 3%
share.
Internet search users in China are predicted to increase from about 100 million
currently to 187 million in two years' time.
Rebecca Mackinnon, research fellow at the Berkman Center on Internet and Society
at Harvard Law School, thinks it is time the company look again at its mission
statement.
"They have taken a step away from their motto of 'don't be evil'. What is
interesting is that it now seems to be 'don't be any more evil than necessary'"
she told the Today programme.
The fact that Google has recently refused to hand over data on what people are
searching for to the US Department of Justice has led critics to accuse it of
operating double standards.
The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says Google is being
hypocritical and described the launch of Google.cn as "a black day for freedom
of expression in China".
"Like its competitors, the company says it has no choice and must obey Chinese
laws, but this is a tired argument," said Julien Pain, head of Reporters Without
Borders' internet freedom desk.
"Freedom of expression isn't a minor principle that can be pushed aside when
dealing with a dictatorship. US firms continue to justify themselves by saying
their presence has a long-term benefit yet the internet in China is becoming
more and more isolated from the outside world and freedom of expression there is
shrinking," he said.
Of course as Chinese web users become more sophisticated they will increasingly
find ways to avoid the censors.
Already bloggers use servers based outside China to avoid monitoring and
government filters are circumvented by changing the spelling of banned words or
using code.
But the fact that outside web firms are prepared to remain in cahoots with the
authorities is not helping the web community, said Mr Pain.
He called on the big names that have a presence in China - Microsoft, Yahoo and
now Google - to get together and make a stand for the freedoms they are so keen
to protect in the west.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4647468.stm