Opinion
Google vs. China
By Khalid Mokhtarzada at 4:17 pm on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 // Post a Comment
The hottest and most important internet related story right now is the battle between China and Google. China has the largest number of Internet users (350 million) with online search market worth nearly a billion dollars. An escalation between Google and China reached epic proportions when US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton addressed the issue of China Internet censorship. At the Newseum journalism museum in Washington, Mrs Clinton said the internet had been a “source of tremendous progress” in China. Google is determined to make even more progress in tearing down politically motivated China censorship walls.
“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,” said Google chief legal officer David Drummond.
We are living in an era where corporations are becoming larger and more influential. Most importantly, more organizations’ leadership are headed by young idealistic men and women that in many cases place ideology ahead of profit. I admire Google’s tough stance on Internet censorship; placing core Internet values, free flow of information, before profits. Google’s stand against China’s censorship policies is a monumental event. A tough belief system to follow in a country where leaders believe in controlling the flow and type of information that is delivered to its citizens. The corporation has demonstrated leadership, making an about face on an original decision to abide by censorship laws. Not bad for a company that believes in democracy on the web and has a mission statement of Do No Evil. It’s hard not to think positively about a company that has a mission statement of Do No Evil.
Here’s a quick history of their relationship.
2000 – Google develops Chinese-language interface for its Google.com website.
2002 – Google.com becomes temporarily unavailable to Chinese users, with interference from domestic competition suspected.
July 2005 – Google hires ex-Microsoft executive Lee Kai Fu as head of Google China. Microsoft sues Google over the move, claiming Lee will inevitably disclose propriety information to Google. The two rivals reach a settlement on the suit over Lee in December.
Jan 2006 – Google rolls out Google.cn, its China-based search page that, in accordance with Chinese rules, censors search results. Google says it made the trade-off to “make meaningful and positive contributions” to development in China while abiding by the country’s strict censorship laws.
Aug 2008 – Google launches free music downloads for users in China to better compete with market leader Baidu Inc.
March 2009 – China blocks access to Google’s YouTube video site.
June 2009 – A Chinese official accuses Google of spreading obscene content over the Internet. The comments come a day after Google.com, Gmail and other Google online services became inaccessible to many users in China.
Sept 2009 – Lee resigns as Google China head to start his own company. Google appoints sales chief John Liu to take over Lee’s business and operational responsibilities.
Oct 2009 - A group of Chinese authors accuses Google of violating copyrights with its digital library, with many threatening to sue.
Jan 2010 – Google announces it is no longer willing to censor searches in China and may pull out of the country.
Jan 2010 – Google postpones launch of two Android phones in China.
Feb 2010 – The New York Times reports the hacking attacks on Google had been traced to two schools in China, citing people familiar with the investigation. The schools deny involvement.
March 22, 2010 – Google announces it will move its mainland Chinese-language portal and begin rerouting searches to its Hong Kong-based site.
March 30, 2010 – China severs all access to Google Search from inside China. Even the mobile site is being partly blocked.
Timeline brought to you by Reuters. Compiled by Melanie Lee. Edited by Ken Wills and Anshuman Daga.
