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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (556409)	3/22/2010 3:55:14 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575025

The show down in China over Censorship has come to a head. ============== Google ends censorship of China site By Richard Waters Google on Monday carried through on its promise to end censorship of its local Chinese search engine, potentially provoking a showdown with local authorities which have mounted an escalating war of words over the issue. The US internet company sought to lessen Chinese anger at the move by redirecting all search requests on its local Chinese service to its Hong Kong arm, which it said stood beyond the reach of Chinese censors. “It’s entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China,” David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said in a blog post announcing the move. “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.” It was not immediately clear whether Chinese censors were taking steps to counter the change, which was announced and became effective in the middle of the night in Beijing. Google’s action comes four years after it attracted worldwide criticism for first agreeing to bow to Chinese censors in order to run a legal search service from inside the country. It promised in January to end the practice, even if that meant being force to leave the country completely. Despite Google’s efforts to cast its talks with Chinese authorities in recent weeks as a negotiation over whether it could continue to operate an uncensored service from inside the country, it has been roundly rebuffed by Chinese officials. As its move appeared more imminent in recent days, officials have taken an increasingly outspoken line against the company. Official news outlets have accused Google of acting as an agent of the US government in trying to put pressure on China. “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,” Mr Drummond wrote. China-watchers in the US have questioned Google’s decision to confront the Chinese authorities publicly over the issue, and predicted early on that it would provoke a backlash. While the announcement spells the end of the joint venture through which Google ran its local search service, Google.cn, it left a question hanging over the fate of Google’s 500-strong workforce in China and its remaining operations there. The company said it intended to continue its research and development arm in Beijing, which pre-dated Google.cn, and to sell advertising to local Chinese advertisers for the Hong Kong service, Google.com.hk. However, it said that the scale of the sales operation would depend partly on how many users in mainland China were able to access the site. Google executives have already voiced concerns privately that Chinese retaliation over its move would make it all but impossible for it to continue with any of its operations in China, effectively forcing it to pull out entirely. ft.com

To: TimF who wrote (556409)	3/22/2010 4:01:46 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575025

There's always the option of just giving up on productivity all together and hoping productive countries will share their wealth. What about a bill to tax rich countries [sarcasm]. ============= Russian oil giant begins drilling in Algeria MOSCOW — Russia's state-owned energy monopoly has begun drilling its first well in Algeria. ShareThis Russia's Gazprom said it was drilling an exploration well in the El Assel region in Algeria. Gazprom said the onshore well marked the first such effort in Algeria as well as the rest of Africa. worldtribune.com