So what exactly is going on with Google?

In one hand they deny the American Government's demands but then bend over the table (with lube!) for China?

Take these two examples when looking up the word, "tiananmen",
HERE and HERE.

From Slashdot:

quote:

Romerican writes "The U.S. Government is questioning Google in relation to corporate behavior under anti-bribery laws. The government is alsoquestioning Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco about their dealings with the Chinese government. Where do Slashdotters see this going?" From the Red Herring article: "There is precedent for the U.S. government establishing laws governing the conduct of U.S. companies abroad. During 1977 the U.S. government enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which was substantially revised during 1988. The provisions of the FCPA prohibit the bribery of foreign government officials by U.S. citizens and prescribe accounting and record-keeping practices. Opponents of the law said it would severely restrict the ability of U.S. companies to compete in many countries where bribery was part of the commercial fabric." ats-tech wrote to give us the link to Google's response to these events, via the Googleblog.

>>Source<<

More here from Editor and Publisher

quote:

The Real Cost of Google's Sellout to China Google is perfectly willing to posture as a brave defender of the privacy of its users in the U.S. marketplace it already dominates while caving to the immense commercial opportunity awaiting it in China. This is a harsh reminder that the concentration of media in the past decade has made the few giant companies that now control them more vulnerable to demands from foreign -- and domestic -- governments with their own agenda.

>>Source<<

Much more HERE from Pajamas Media where they have a whole section called, "China Syndrome"...

Apparently >Google pulled their own censorship statement< but it was caught (ironically) via their own cache servers...

If Google isn't careful, they could be the ones setting a major precident and have the government passing laws and dictating what American internet companies can and can't do offshore.
Personally, I think that would be disasterous when you think of what kind of implication that would have on a LOT of global American companies.
I would even go so far to say that Canadian companies would probably follow suit as they had to with >Sarbanes-Oxley<

Do you guys/gals think Google is on the verge of setting a precedent?

___________________
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The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

Last edited by Fir3start3r on Jan-28-2006 at 18:53