Google in China!

[MURACU]

With all the coverage in the news about how high tech internet firms are operating in China I was just wondering what your take on the situtation was. So the question is should google and the other internet firms censor themselves in china?

[KorpDeath]

It's a funny thing, and I've said this before, that Google will bend over for the red Chinese and censor information but when it comes to helping our gov't they flat out refuse. And keep in mind what our gov't asks for is nowhere near as extreme as what the Chinese have asked for.

Screw Google, I hope their stock tanks.

[dalek]

As reprehensible as it may seem to us, if that is the "Chinese" laws then if Google or anyone else wants to cash in on their booming economy, then they will follow them, otherwise someone else will step in and provide the service they want......it's the American way....

Hopefully after time the society in China will undergo a fundemental change and embrace "Democracy" (it will occur, you cannot continue to censor everything, eventually word gets out) and then at that time everything will be equal...


Don't forget they (the Chinese) are being allowed to Host the next Summer Olympics, as far as I am concerned, based upon their human rights violations, they should never have been allowed to win the bid to host the games in the first place.....but too many people saw $$$$ and will overlook the many warts that China has and instead take it out on Fidel (Cuba, that stonghold of anti democracy, and all things that bug the sh*t out of Americans)......Can you spell H.y.p.o.c.r.a.c.y

[MURACU]

Korpdeath,
The big differance is that in the states your right to privacy is protected by the constitution. In China it is not. For me it is not hypocracy (thanks for writing it dalek i would have got it wrong otherwise ) it is following the law of the land. Also as Dalek points out they are a buisness and I am fairly sure that if they refused to set up in China their shareholders would have a lot to say about it. Also google is not alone in China but it is alone in letting the people know that they are being censored.
Where was the outrage when Microsoft and yahoo gave over information to the Chiness goverment on human rights activist. Then again as you said the goverment asked for the information so it should be given.

[The Grunt]

In the US they will keep their business and not be kicked out of the country for saying the government is wrong. If they want to keep business in China, they have to follow chinese rules. They are just like any international business, you have to play the right game in every country or you won't last long. In the US, they know that people have a right for their information to be private, and they are trying to respect their customer's rights. In China, the customers have no such rights, therefore, Google simply follows the laws set by the government.

[rcgreen]

Maybe after we get a dictatorship established here,
people will say "Oh, well, it's the law of the land.
You gotta obey the law" as they haul your next door
neighbor off to prison for voting for the losing party
in the last election.

Why is it that the people ranting about a "Bush dictatorship"
seem to be so casual about real dictatorships elsewhere?
The hypocrisy isn't just in the corporations. It is everywhere.

[hjack]

I can't believe that 3 people actually voted for yes. The only two things I stand proudly for is Freedom of Speech and Privacy. Both of which are getting trampled on. The purpose of the censorship is keep the public iggnorant so that they can control (through arcane morals and values) control of the masses. Look at the Catholic church during the mid-evil ages. While China can't burn the books, they have found a way to censor them.

As for here in the ole US of A......people need to quite paying attention to what the hell other countries are doing and pay attention to whats happening at home. Our privacy and civil rates are disappearing at an ever increasing rate and all you ever see is an occasional AP story on it.

I just recently bought a book on the Patriot Act with commentary and you would be amazed at what the hell they are doing. Not to mention whatthey are building up to. Can we say "Police State". I know that might be a little extreme but you have to look at possible evolutions of each decision.

YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS ARE BEING TRAMPLED ON!

Ry

[Relyt]

The freedoms we enjoy won't happen over night in China. I wish it would happen quicker, but it's going to take awhile. The absolute worse thing the Red Leaders could have done is have the Olies there. That will speed up the process. And with Google getting their foot in the door....who knows maybe that will help as well. But seriously it will be a decade before we actually see any noticeable results. Regardless it will happen.

cheers

[dalek]

I can't believe that 3 people actually voted for yes

Ignorance of another countries laws will get you a day pass for the local jail.....ignore China for a second, say you are a visitor to oh Italy, and on every second Friday of each Month, it is against the law to pick your nose in Public, now your over there as a tourist, happily snapping pictures and it just so happens that the day you are doing this is the second Friday of the Month and you pause to pick a great big booger out of your nose.......sirens go off and the local cops bust your ass....

Point of this story is.....you are a guest in this country, however you will abide by our laws.....and if you break them, then have a number for a lawyer handy.You can dislike the laws, but they are their laws....

I respect the soverignty of a foreign nation, I may hate their human rights abuses, but I respect their place on this planet, you and me cannot change the way China conducts itself, it will be done internally and over time....

[Evil Moo]

Google is a business, not a Human Rights organization. Last time I checked, businesses only had profit in mind, not civil issues.

You can respect them as businessmen, but you don't have to respect them as people.