[kictanet] Google: A new approach to China: an update

[alice]

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html

A new approach to China: an update
3/22/2010 12:03:00 PM

On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty
other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack
originating from China, and that during our investigation into these
attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of
dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely
accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware
placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the
surveillance they uncovered—combined with attempts over the last year to
further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent
blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and
Blogger—had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring
our results on Google.cn.

So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search,
Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are
now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored
search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland
China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will
continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese
service, also from Google.com.hk. Due to the increased load on our Hong
Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see
some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as
we switch everything over.

Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on
Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible
to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the
Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that
self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new
approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from
Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's
entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for
people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects
our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block
access to our services. We will therefore be carefully monitoring access
issues, and have created this new web page, which we will update regularly
each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in
China.

In terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D
work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size
of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of
mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk. Finally, we would like to
make clear that all these decisions have been driven and implemented by
our executives in the United States, and that none of our employees in
China can, or should, be held responsible for them. Despite all the
uncertainty and difficulties they have faced since we made our
announcement in January, they have continued to focus on serving our
Chinese users and customers. We are immensely proud of them.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer