[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comments][01.14]

adammaksimUID: 2675466

A large Internet company, the largest in some ways and most influential globally, is saying publicly that the Chinese government's behavior is unacceptable, and that can't fail to resonate.

Given the company's tempestuous(风雨飘摇的~) four years in China, the odds the authorities will now compromise are slim.

comments:

I have to say I'm a loyal google fan using google as a search engine for a very long time. Although partly censored, google is always a better choice for me than the totally 'harmony' baidu. However, now I don't know whether I should feel happy or sad about google's decision to return its website to an uncensored edition with the possibility of losing google forever. Why our country need a censorship to maintain the so called 'harmonious society'? It is a subtle question. Maybe a society fraught with citizens who are indifferent to the politics and afraid to affront the authority of the government even when the government is wrong or their legal rights are invaded will easily to be 'harmonious' and stable, yet I doubt it will be strong and prosperous. The most powerful country in this world, America, is country with no censorship.

quit here

splendidsunUID: 2723757

1-14
Comment:
The issue that Google would exit Chinese market really surprises me a lot. At first, it is difficult for me to understand why Google would rather give up the greatest potential market in China. Now, I have got the main points. As a global search engine, users from all around the world use it as a main tool in their lives. While， some extremists exert Google to convey their ideas to oppose the government of China. To prevent this situation, Chinese government has to filter the results of searching and delete the sensitive words. But that seems to be incompatible with the belief of Google. The search engine should offer the complete results and fast service to its users. However, the filter results slow down the speed of searching. What else, in China the competitor BAIDU occupy most of Chinese market as it has a good relationship with the government and filter the results throughout. Actually, Chinese people tend to use BAIDU instead of google for the following reasons：
1. BAIDU is a indigenous brand of searching engine, which the government give great support for its development.
2. BAIDU could meet the need of Chinese user. Although Google could offer more accurate and complete searching results, most of them are English version which are difficult for most Chinese citizen to understand. Take myself as a example: When I am searching some non-academic key words, I prefer using BAIDU. While for the academic resources, Google would be the first choice to gain the accurate information.
3. China has its own special situation that couldn't make all to public especially some sensitive history events. Thus the searching results couldn't be equal to those from any other part of China.
Above all, it is very difficult for Google to make a balance between the government's need and the users' need in China.

错字：
Controvatial— controversial

Words:
cyber网民
infrastructure基础设施
surveillance监督
prompt引起
outcry尖叫
lucrative有利可图的
be intoxicated with 陶醉于
pornography色情文学
indigenous本土的

domudomuUID: 2670967

After years of struggling to build its China operations, Google has threatened to pull out of the country following a sophisticated（老于世故的） cyber attack on its corporate infrastructure. The California-based Internet giant also announced on Tuesday that it will drop its self-censorship（自我审查） of its Chinese-language Google.cn search engine, which the company had previously filtered to prevent it from returning results on topics that angered Chinese authorities.

David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, wrote on the company's official blog that Google uncovered a broad hacking attempt in December that was targeted at more than 20 technology, finance, media and chemical companies. A primary target may have been the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists. "These attacks and the surveillance（盯梢监视） they have uncovered — combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web — have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China," he wrote. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton quickly issued a statementthat Google's allegations（陈词，陈述） raised serious concerns. "We look to the Chinese government for an explanation," the Jan. 12 statement read."The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy." (See pictures of life in the Googleplex.)


This morning in Beijing, Google.cn was returning results for sensitive topics like the Dalai Lama and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement. Previously, a search for "Tiananmen" would only return results about the square itself, while noting that because of government restrictions some content was unavailable. Now Google.cn links to pages that include information about the bloody government crackdown in 1989, though the page appears to have fluctuated between uncensored（未经审查的） and censored over the course of the day.

Google has long struggled to expand its China operations. After its search engine was routinely blocked or slowed by China's system of Internet controls, it created the filtered Google.cn in 2006. The hope was that by censoring select results, it would speed up searches for Chinese users.

But the decision to offer a censored search page prompted an outcry（公开反对） from human-rights activists and some members of Congress that the company was turning a blind eye to its "Don't be evil" motto for the sake of access to the lucrative（获利多的，赚钱的） Chinese market. "Google came into the market bending some of its own rules," says Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting in Beijing. "It was intoxicated（极其兴奋的） with the prospect of this enormous and still just-beginning-to-develop market. I think it always knew it was already having a little bit of misgiving about being in the market, but it couldn't pass it up."

In the end, Google's compromises did little to help its position on the mainland. Average Chinese Web users never warmed to the company's services, and it came under repeated attacks from the authorities and state media for providing links to pornography. "They were trying to find a way to compromise without completely bending over and it turned out they couldn't win," says Rebecca MacKinnon, an expert on the Chinese Internet. "Over the past year they've been under growing pressure from the government to censor more tightly and been condemned in the Chinese media for exposing children to porn（色情文学，色情描写）." Baidu, a Chinese search engine with a Google-lookalike home page, has used its better relationship with authorities and its indigenous（土生土长的，固有的） appeal as a domestic company to surge past Google. Baidu was the first choice for 77% of Chinese Internet users, compared to 13% for Google, according to a September 2009 survey by the state-run China Internet Network Information Center. (See pictures of the making of modern China.)

By dropping its censorship（审查员职权）, the company stands to regain some of the moral clout（影响）. Today, several Chinese bloggers delivered flowers to the company's Beijing headquarters to thank it for its new stand. "It's a public message that some people in China are picking up on," says MacKinnon. "A large Internet company, the largest in some ways and most influential globally, is saying publicly that the Chinese government's behavior is unacceptable, and that can't fail to resonate（产生共鸣）."

Google says it will discuss with the government how it will go about running an uncensored search engine in China. "We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China," wrote Drummond, the Google executive, on the Google blog. Given the company's tempestuous（暴风雨，动乱的） four years in China, the odds the authorities will now compromise are slim.

comments
I read this hot articles on Jan 19,and just before reading this, one of my roomates told me that google will come back to China's huge market. Everything gonna change quickly even in a few seconds. And in this way, today many people regard the hot topic as a kind of  sensationalizations. It will chill the heart when proved to be true. At the beginning of this issue , most of us praise google as a straightness company. We think that in order to instis its own principle and style, google even give up the very big market in China. I still remember Jan14, I am surprised to hear this ne
ws and just as most people do . I am quite worry about my g-mails,but, forturnately, the gmail is ok.
As to the government, I have a lot to say but I will not say in public. Several days ago, I knew that every message or calls by mobilephone is supervisory control by government. It is to say that we have no privacy when face to govenment. The sweet words spoken to your honey may be not only to your honey but also the supervisor. The proverb"walls have ears" or "look out your month" is only a peice of cake when it comes to govenment supervisor. Will our country change some attitude after the google issue?Will it be possible to view twitter and facebook when surf the internet? Will the google issue which is concened widely enough as "falungun" and "Dalai Lama" bring any positive change to the intenet environment and society attitude in this developing country? I will wait and see.