Google has announced not to censor their search results in China any more, yet they have to clarify whether this is ok with the local authorities (wanna bet?). In case of disapproval they will close their Chinese offices and shut down the Chinese site.
One would think that this is a black day for Human Rights and Free Speech, but all over the place associations who claim to enforce these rights are (positively!) raving about Google’s plans. I’m sorry? Retreating because a regime bullies you is no success, and no progress at all.
What’s more, Google has suffered a serious attack (presumably from Chinese hackers), in course of which important data, which might give access to even more sensitive data, has been purloined. Does any reasonable person really believe that attacks like this will stop once Big G has given up on Big C?
Successfully hacking companies like Google, Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo!, Facebook and the like has become one-stop shopping not only for technical information, but also heaps of individual personal data that have been collected over the years. Their only option is to persuade more hackers to collaborate and make their systems safer.
Well, not precisely. They could –if they were idealistic– make efforts to virtually invade China. Outsmart or overthrow the system. But that’s a) risky and b) costly. But the best sort of marketing effort they could make because it would let them stand out.
