The last straw seems to have been placed on the back of Internet behemoth, Google. At least in China.
In a carefully worded announcement, Google announced it's intention to cease censoring search results for China after a detailed investigation into last year's cyber-attack which, among other issues, seems to have been aimed at Chinese dissidents and human rights activists. The company fell short of pointing the finger directly at the Chinese government, but the diplomatic language was unequivocal in assigning guilt.
Read the full announcement here.
The question remains, is this merely sabre rattling on Google's part, or do they fully intend to undo the many years of painstaking work and withdraw from the fastest growing market in the world? Time will tell what discussions, negotiations and concessions are made to the current arrangements and whether Google.cn is closed and the Google offices in China are vacated.
Almost 3 years ago to the day, Google admitted that the decision to assist with censorship was a mistake. <China censorship damaged us, Google founders admit, The Guardian, 27 Jan 2007)
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
ReplyDeleteIndeed! My gut feel is that Google are expecting some concessions - I can't see them leaving that market in the hands of their morally ambivalent competitors.
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