Google agrees to censor service to enter China - GoFuckYourself.com

Sarah_Jayne · 01-25-2006, 02:42 AM

Google agrees to censor service to enter China

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. said on Tuesday it was introducing a new service for China that seeks to avoid a confrontation with the government by restricting access to services to which users contribute such as e-mail, chat rooms and blogs.

The new Chinese service at http://www.google.cn will offer a censored version of Google's popular search system that could restrict access to thousands of terms and Web sites.

Hot topics might include issues like independence for Taiwan or Tibet or outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong.

In seeking to compete more aggressively in the world's second biggest Internet market -- where Google has lost ground to a more popular home-grown search company Baidu Inc. -- the company is facing the toughest challenge yet to its corporate mantra of "Don't do evil."

In a compromise that trades off Google's desire to provide universal access to information in order to exist within local laws, Google will not offer its Gmail e-mail service, Web log publishing services or chat rooms -- tools of self-expression that could be used for political or social protest.

Instead, it said it would initially offer four of its core services -- Web site and image search, Google News and local search -- while working toward introducing additional services over time.

"Other products -- such as Gmail and Blogger -- will be introduced only when we are comfortable that we can do so in a way that strikes a proper balance among our commitments to satisfy users' interests, expand access to information, and respond to local conditions," the company said in a statement.

The move in China comes less than a week after Google resisted the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to get information about commonly used sex search terms. That government demand was met by search rivals such as Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft, spokesmen for those companies said.

"China is the most repressive censorship regime on the Internet," said John Palfrey, one of the principal investigators on a joint university research project on global Internet censorship known as the OpenNet Initiative

(http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/china/)

Palfrey, director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and a law professor, has ties to Google executives involved in the China project and is working on a spyware research effort that is partly funded by Google.

He estimated that through active and passive censorship tens of thousands of search terms are blocked for Web users inside China.

"It comes down to how well Google reacts to the first or the second or the hundredth clash with China," he said of the regular negotiations and potential confrontations that are likely to be necessary between Google and Chinese authorities.

GOOGLE FACES GROWN-UP CHALLENGES

Google has long offered a full-featured Chinese language version of its Google.com service available to users worldwide and run from computers in its California headquarters.

Company officials said they expect in the coming months to begin running the Google.cn service from facilities within China in order to ensure speedier search results for users in China and to meet local laws governing domestic Web services.

Sites outside China often suffer slowdowns or are blocked under a system -- nicknamed the "great firewall" -- in which the Web in China is walled off from the global Internet. This allows the Chinese government to both actively censor what citizens can see, while it puts pressure on Internet service providers to self-censor an even wider range of material.

Google officials said they planned to notify users of its Google.cn service when the company has restricted access to certain search terms or the Web sites behind them.

In different political circumstances, Google also notifies users of its German, French and U.S. services when it blocks access to material such as banned Nazi sites in Europe.

"In order to operate from China, we have removed some content from the search results available on Google.cn, in response to local law, regulation or policy," the company said.

Aware of the trade-offs it is making, Google executives said they believe the company can play a more positive role by participating in the Chinese market, despite restrictions, than by boycotting the country in order to avoid such compromises.

"While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission," the company stated.

reuters

Odin · 01-25-2006, 02:48 AM

I don't know what else they can do. They censor different material in different countries all the time. Try searching for various far right-wing websites in Germany for example, and you will notice the results will differ from those results in America. Not everywhere has the benefit of a First Amendment, and while Google should do what they can to make sure things are as free as possible, they can't break a countries laws, it is after all just a company, not a militant democracy organisation.

2HousePlague · 01-25-2006, 02:53 AM

ty, sarah -- http://chinaspeech.profitlabinc.com/2hp/google-china/ -- 2hp

Doctor Dre · 01-25-2006, 02:54 AM

As much as they want, they can't go agaisn't the law... diff cultures

Sarah_Jayne · 01-25-2006, 03:10 AM

interesting that they fight the US lawmakers though (and I am glad they are)

Antonio · 01-25-2006, 03:51 AM

it's all about the benjamins, China will surely make them a buck or two, who gives a flying fuck about freedom of expression

8 Characters · 01-25-2006, 03:54 AM

When gigantic corporations like this suddenly begin to do things 'against their own philosophy', you can fairly accurately say that their philosophy has changed. In this case, what do you think Google's philosophy is now?

MrChips · 01-25-2006, 04:00 AM

""While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, ""

Is it fuck inconsistent - those fuckers removed tonnes of my milf stuff - fucking lying bastards

Drake · 01-25-2006, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrChips

""While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, ""

Is it fuck inconsistent - those fuckers removed tonnes of my milf stuff - fucking lying bastards

AmateurFlix · 01-25-2006, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief

I don't know what else they can do.

they could avoid being paid to collaborate with censors thus giving their approval to this type of activity

sumphatpimp · 01-25-2006, 07:47 AM

big fat corporations run the world.
politicians are just place holders and puppets.

JOKER · 01-25-2006, 07:51 AM

Holy Cow

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=anal

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=porn

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=hardcore+porn

seeric · 01-25-2006, 07:54 AM

i still managed to search for and find tons of porn through that new engine. good for us. chinese traffic anyone?

psili · 01-25-2006, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antonio

it's all about the benjamins, China will surely make them a buck or two, who gives a flying fuck about freedom of expression

No shit.
110 million users and will be surpassing the US in users very soon.
I'd do whatever it took to have even restricted access through that country's firewall.

Harmon · 01-25-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOKEREMPIRE

Holy Cow

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=anal

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=porn

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=hardcore+porn

I just did the same thing. VERY censored... porn brings up people being busted for it - no sites! lol

Odin · 01-25-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmateurFlix

they could avoid being paid to collaborate with censors thus giving their approval to this type of activity

Should they refuse to service Germany than also? Honest question. Because Germany has specifically made Google remove right-wing websites, amoung others. This is a huge huge dent to the idea on which google was built (that the internet was free, and it would simply act as a gateway), and the whole foundation of American society. So you tell me, where do they draw the line when they are asked to censor political content? Because they backfliped on their original policies on this matter years ago and gave into a number of European governments already. So why should they do any different now?

JOKER · 01-25-2006, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief

Should they refuse to service Germany than also? Honest question. Because Germany has specifically made Google remove right-wing websites, amoung others. This is a huge huge dent to the idea on which google was built (that the internet was free, and it would simply act as a gateway), and the whole foundation of American society. So you tell me, where do they draw the line when they are asked to censor political content? Because they backfliped on their original policies on this matter years ago and gave into a number of European governments already. So why should they do any different now?

Because they want into the Chinese market

Vitasoy · 01-25-2006, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antonio

it's all about the benjamins, China will surely make them a buck or two, who gives a flying fuck about freedom of expression

This pretty much sums it up

Sarah_Jayne · 01-25-2006, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOKEREMPIRE

Holy Cow

http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=porn

well whoever runs http://www.sex-library.com/ better start thinking about what to do with traffic from china

Sarah_Jayne · 01-25-2006, 08:02 AM

forget porn for a minute..put 'freedom' in it

JOKER · 01-25-2006, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarah_webinc

well whoever runs http://www.sex-library.com/ better start thinking about what to do with traffic from china

The next big trafficbroker on GFY?

JOKER · 01-25-2006, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief

Should they refuse to service Germany than also? Honest question. Because Germany has specifically made Google remove right-wing websites, amoung others. This is a huge huge dent to the idea on which google was built (that the internet was free, and it would simply act as a gateway), and the whole foundation of American society. So you tell me, where do they draw the line when they are asked to censor political content? Because they backfliped on their original policies on this matter years ago and gave into a number of European governments already. So why should they do any different now?

And if Germany would be "firewalling" its citizens like China does, maybe Google would bend over there as well...

Lets wait a few more years, until we have the DeutschNet - completely seperated from the InterNet

Sarah_Jayne · 01-25-2006, 08:06 AM

or even better - tiananmen square - according to that version of google it never happened

AmateurFlix · 01-25-2006, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief

Should they refuse to service Germany than also? Honest question. Because Germany has specifically made Google remove right-wing websites, amoung others.

I don't see how they could 'refuse' to service Germany or any other country merely by offering their site in an uncensored form. Germany could very well put up some type of firewall to block residents access to google, but at least then the blame would be solely upon Germany, not upon google, and google wouldn't be assisting in censorship.

The internet has become a sort of a news source like newspapers or television; to see the biggest players actively cooperating with censors so easily is disturbing.

kernelpanic · 01-25-2006, 08:34 AM

Google is all about the algorithm. They have come up with the best way to display the most relevant content.

Major search engines ARE going to operate in China. Even if all the major ones boycotted it, someone would come along and build a search engine especially for China, which would be of much lesser quality.

By providing service, even in censored form, Google is going to maximize the Chinese search experience. If I were living in that communist hellhole, I would certainly prefer a censored Google over a censored knockoff.

Odin · 01-25-2006, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmateurFlix

I don't see how they could 'refuse' to service Germany or any other country merely by offering their site in an uncensored form. Germany could very well put up some type of firewall to block residents access to google, but at least then the blame would be solely upon Germany, not upon google, and google wouldn't be assisting in censorship.

The internet has become a sort of a news source like newspapers or television; to see the biggest players actively cooperating with censors so easily is disturbing.

Google operates on a nations TLD, for example .de. So although they couldn't refuse to service a nation completely (i.e. they could still use the US/.com version) they could refuse to operate under the nation specific TLD and subsequent regulations.

AmateurFlix · 01-25-2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief

Google operates on a nations TLD, for example .de. So although they couldn't refuse to service a nation completely (i.e. they could still use the US/.com version) they could refuse to operate under the nation specific TLD and subsequent regulations.

so they offere a censored .de version and (I assume) http://www.google.com/intl/de/ is uncensored?

Korban · 01-25-2006, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Dre

As much as they want, they can't go agaisn't the law... diff cultures

Is that how they are spinning this?

Helping communism censor the interweb is a noble cause and helping rid the web of child porn is a bad thing, right?

Splum · 01-25-2006, 03:19 PM

Google is fucking evil, Ive sold my stock, you better sell yours before they crash and burn because it will happen.

01-25-2006, 02:42 AM	#1
Sarah_Jayne Now with more Jayne Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 40,077	Google agrees to censor service to enter China Google agrees to censor service to enter China SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. said on Tuesday it was introducing a new service for China that seeks to avoid a confrontation with the government by restricting access to services to which users contribute such as e-mail, chat rooms and blogs. The new Chinese service at http://www.google.cn will offer a censored version of Google's popular search system that could restrict access to thousands of terms and Web sites. Hot topics might include issues like independence for Taiwan or Tibet or outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong. In seeking to compete more aggressively in the world's second biggest Internet market -- where Google has lost ground to a more popular home-grown search company Baidu Inc. -- the company is facing the toughest challenge yet to its corporate mantra of "Don't do evil." In a compromise that trades off Google's desire to provide universal access to information in order to exist within local laws, Google will not offer its Gmail e-mail service, Web log publishing services or chat rooms -- tools of self-expression that could be used for political or social protest. Instead, it said it would initially offer four of its core services -- Web site and image search, Google News and local search -- while working toward introducing additional services over time. "Other products -- such as Gmail and Blogger -- will be introduced only when we are comfortable that we can do so in a way that strikes a proper balance among our commitments to satisfy users' interests, expand access to information, and respond to local conditions," the company said in a statement. The move in China comes less than a week after Google resisted the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to get information about commonly used sex search terms. That government demand was met by search rivals such as Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft, spokesmen for those companies said. "China is the most repressive censorship regime on the Internet," said John Palfrey, one of the principal investigators on a joint university research project on global Internet censorship known as the OpenNet Initiative (http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/china/) Palfrey, director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and a law professor, has ties to Google executives involved in the China project and is working on a spyware research effort that is partly funded by Google. He estimated that through active and passive censorship tens of thousands of search terms are blocked for Web users inside China. "It comes down to how well Google reacts to the first or the second or the hundredth clash with China," he said of the regular negotiations and potential confrontations that are likely to be necessary between Google and Chinese authorities. GOOGLE FACES GROWN-UP CHALLENGES Google has long offered a full-featured Chinese language version of its Google.com service available to users worldwide and run from computers in its California headquarters. Company officials said they expect in the coming months to begin running the Google.cn service from facilities within China in order to ensure speedier search results for users in China and to meet local laws governing domestic Web services. Sites outside China often suffer slowdowns or are blocked under a system -- nicknamed the "great firewall" -- in which the Web in China is walled off from the global Internet. This allows the Chinese government to both actively censor what citizens can see, while it puts pressure on Internet service providers to self-censor an even wider range of material. Google officials said they planned to notify users of its Google.cn service when the company has restricted access to certain search terms or the Web sites behind them. In different political circumstances, Google also notifies users of its German, French and U.S. services when it blocks access to material such as banned Nazi sites in Europe. "In order to operate from China, we have removed some content from the search results available on Google.cn, in response to local law, regulation or policy," the company said. Aware of the trade-offs it is making, Google executives said they believe the company can play a more positive role by participating in the Chinese market, despite restrictions, than by boycotting the country in order to avoid such compromises. "While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission," the company stated. reuters

01-25-2006, 02:53 AM	#3
2HousePlague CURATOR Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: the attic Posts: 14,572	ty, sarah -- http://chinaspeech.profitlabinc.com/2hp/google-china/ -- 2hp __________________ tada!

01-25-2006, 07:51 AM	#12
JOKER Facit Omnia Voluntas Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Offshore Posts: 2,105	Holy Cow http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=anal http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=porn http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=hardcore+porn __________________ Facilitation - BizDev - Traffic - Consulting - Marketing Skype: jokerempire \| Silent Circle: joker

01-25-2006, 08:34 AM	#25
kernelpanic Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,961	Google is all about the algorithm. They have come up with the best way to display the most relevant content. Major search engines ARE going to operate in China. Even if all the major ones boycotted it, someone would come along and build a search engine especially for China, which would be of much lesser quality. By providing service, even in censored form, Google is going to maximize the Chinese search experience. If I were living in that communist hellhole, I would certainly prefer a censored Google over a censored knockoff. __________________ ZangoCash - Turn Your Traffic Into Ca$h. $.40 Per Install - No Tier

01-25-2006, 02:48 AM	#2
Odin Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: au Posts: 2,545	I don't know what else they can do. They censor different material in different countries all the time. Try searching for various far right-wing websites in Germany for example, and you will notice the results will differ from those results in America. Not everywhere has the benefit of a First Amendment, and while Google should do what they can to make sure things are as free as possible, they can't break a countries laws, it is after all just a company, not a militant democracy organisation.

01-25-2006, 03:10 AM	#5
Sarah_Jayne Now with more Jayne Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 40,077	interesting that they fight the US lawmakers though (and I am glad they are)

01-25-2006, 03:51 AM	#6
Antonio Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Spartaaaaaaaaa Posts: 14,136	it's all about the benjamins, China will surely make them a buck or two, who gives a flying fuck about freedom of expression

01-25-2006, 03:54 AM	#7
8 Characters So Fucking Banned Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: This month's character: Dirty Franck Posts: 2,336	When gigantic corporations like this suddenly begin to do things 'against their own philosophy', you can fairly accurately say that their philosophy has changed. In this case, what do you think Google's philosophy is now?

01-25-2006, 04:00 AM	#8
MrChips Confirmed User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,504	""While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, "" Is it fuck inconsistent - those fuckers removed tonnes of my milf stuff - fucking lying bastards

01-25-2006, 07:47 AM	#11
sumphatpimp Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 5,235	big fat corporations run the world. politicians are just place holders and puppets.

01-25-2006, 07:54 AM	#13
seeric .......... Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: .......... Posts: 41,917	i still managed to search for and find tons of porn through that new engine. good for us. chinese traffic anyone?

01-25-2006, 08:02 AM	#20
Sarah_Jayne Now with more Jayne Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 40,077	forget porn for a minute..put 'freedom' in it

01-25-2006, 08:06 AM	#23
Sarah_Jayne Now with more Jayne Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 40,077	or even better - tiananmen square - according to that version of google it never happened

01-25-2006, 03:19 PM	#29
Splum Confirmed User Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 6,195	Google is fucking evil, Ive sold my stock, you better sell yours before they crash and burn because it will happen.