Today while browsing the Seattle Post Intelligencer, I saw an article
with the headline
Google agrees to censor results in China which
began
SAN FRANCISCO -- Online search engine leader Google Inc. has agreed to censor
its results in China, adhering to the country's free-speech restrictions in
return for better access in the Internet's fastest growing market.
The
Mountain View, Calif.-based company planned to roll out a new version
of its search engine bearing China's Web suffix ".cn," on Wednesday. A
Chinese-language version of Google's search engine has previously been
available through the company's dot-com address in the United States. By
creating a unique address for China, Google hopes to make its search
engine more widely available and easier to use in the world's most
populous country.
...
To obtain the Chinese license, Google agreed to omit Web content that the
country's government finds objectionable. Google will base its censorship
decisons on guidance provided by Chinese government officials.
Although China has loosened some of its controls in recent years, some
topics, such as Taiwan's independence and 1989's Tiananmen Square massacre,
remain forbidden subjects.
Google officials characterized the censorship concessions in China as an
excruciating decision for a company that adopted "don't be evil" as a motto. But
management believes it's a worthwhile sacrifice.
"We firmly believe, with our culture of innovation, Google can make
meaningful and positive contributions to the already impressive pace of
development in China," said Andrew McLaughlin, Google's senior policy
counsel.
Google's decision rankled Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog
group that has sharply criticized Internet companies including Yahoo
and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com for submitting to China's censorship
regime.
No comment.