A private firm (Google) has just done what the seemingly powerful American/Western government(s) should have done but don't have guts to do - say "No" to the Chinese communist party-dynasty. This brave act from Google has demonstrated the accuracy of my assertion: Governments and collectives are not the carriers of morals. Just the opposite, they often are the source of moral nihilism and moral corruption. Only the individual is the carrier of moral values therefore only the individual can spread the truth. --- Kai Chen
China and Google: No hits? 谷歌向中共黨朝說“不”
Buffalo News
Search engine takes a welcome stand after series of outrageous cyber-attacks
Updated: January 16, 2010, 7:56 AM
Google’s surprising announcement that it may pull out of China after being hit with major cyber-attacks — attacks it believes originated from that country — may not be all that surprising after all, given the high humanitarian costs of continuing to do business in an atmosphere of strict censorship. Google’s stand on principle deserves applause, but the Internet search engine company must follow through.
The mere threat has caused a major shock wave in both the cyber and real worlds. Google may have decided that its perceived world takeover doesn’t have to include China — although a final decision by the company has yet to be made.
The attack targeted at least 34 different companies and not only provoked Google’s response but also statements by Adobe Systems Inc., whose spokeswoman said the software company had experienced an attack that appeared to be related to the one described by Google. U.S. authorities, including the National Security Agency, are also reportedly involved in investigating the attacks.
Meanwhile, Baidu, a Chinese-run search engine company with close government ties, will continue its rise in that country, where it already has twice Google’s market share.
Google had been taking a bit of a public relations beating from human rights groups and Web- industry officials for launching its Chinese-language google.cn search engine in 2006 and agreeing to a government demand to censor some of its results. The criticism was deserved.
But apparently dealing with a government bent on censorship isn’t easy, which escalating tensions proved last year as China reprimanded and accused the company of having pornography on its sites. YouTube, Google’s video-sharing site, also has fallen victim to censorship and largely has been inaccessible in China since around March. And searching for words such as “Dalai lama,” or “Tiananmen square,” drew a blank result.
Perhaps the final straw came when Google discovered “highly sophisticated and targeted attacks” on dozens of Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China. Just as Human Rights Watch Director Arvind Ganesan said, a transnational attack on privacy is chilling. But is it possible, as Ganesan suggested, for government companies to develop policies that safeguard rights?
In the past, Google and other companies have acquiesced to the wishes of the Chinese government with regard to censorship and have been roundly and rightly criticized for doing so. Freedom, not censorship, is a hallmark of Internet culture. Cynics may have reason to fear that Google will reassess this situation and come to terms with the government in order to continue doing business in an important and growing part of the global market, but the company has done the right thing — so far. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
