For those that are wondering why their Google stock is plummeting like Lucifer from Heaven:
Official Google Blog: A new approach to China
Google threat a rare show of defiance in China - Forbes.com
Quote:
Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.
...
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.
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The blogspot post was linked in an earlier thread, but then there's
this:
Statement on Google Operations in China
Quote:
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 12, 2010
We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy. I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear.
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Big trouble brewing in little China, folks. I, as a Chinese person with relatives in and out of China, seriously applaud this move. Amazingly, my parents think this is all some huge conspiracy from Google and the US government (they're pretty brainwashed by the Chinese news we get) and that the Chinese government is in the right.
They think the main issues between China and Google are intellectual properties that
Google stole from writers, which just goes to show the extent that China can spin/cover up the truth. My parents seem to represent a startling number of peers in and out of China. You really have to give it to Google to make a stand in a country where government support is a necessity to business survival.
tl;dr haiku -
Google gets hacked
Censorship isn't right
Ching Chong China's wrong
**UPDATE 1/21/2010**
The wheels of propaganda are turning in China. They're accusing Google's aggressive posturing as a conspiracy and extension of the Obama administration's agenda. This is pretty classic Chinese big-stick politics and has worked well in the past, but I really hope it doesn't this time.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1437960/
The whole world is watching. Can Google can follow through and start a real movement for increased transparency and freedom of information in China? I certainly hope so. It feels like the time is ripe for serious civil rights advancements in a nation that's just coming into its own as a superpower.
Hillary Clinton is set to make a press statement today about Internet freedom and the whole situation. They will, hopefully, be careful enough to firmly separate the government from any direct involvement in the affair apart from political/moral support.
Great things are afoot.
tl;dr haiku -
Cover truth with news
Of Google's conspiracy
Small dongs with big stick