Google to China: You get us uncensored or not at all

[waywardbound]

This is huge! In a blog post today, Google explains why they are looking at pulling out of China completely, unless they are allowed to provide a fully uncensored service. No matter which way this plays out (but especially if Google does pull out), the ripple effects of this will be extremely influential.

Google Blog: A New Approach to China

Comments

[urox]

According to wikipedia, Baidu is over 50% of the market anyway.

[waywardbound]

It's not the unavailability of Google's services that matter. It's the implication of them pulling out, the cascading effect it might have with other US and international organizations participating in the Chinese market, reaction from the Chinese people, potential retaliation by our country's biggest creditor, and the potential effects on both the Chinese and US economies.

If this were some small service provider, no one would care. But it's Google. And they're intentionally making this a public move. There's no way this can play out without some degree of significant impact on the global stage.

[urox]

Most US businesses won't care. IBM tried to stay out of the outsourcing business for a while but then caved because they felt they couldn't be competitive without doing so (despite the hidden costs of offshoring). Every year I see them treat their workers worse and worse. What matters to most corporations is money.

The Chinese people won't react much because Baidu is top. It'd be like Yahoo pulling out when most everyone uses Google... most people won't notice. And the creditors will be happy because that means more market share for Baidu. Nationalism is a big thing for the Chinese leadership.

Google tries to do the right thing from everything I've seen of them and I applaud them making a stand. But most companies out there don't.