« More squeam? | Main | Something old, something new(ish) »
January 25, 2006
Is Google now Evil?
Google has just announced that it plans to roll out a version of Google for China. This special version is tailor made so that the chinese government can censor all search results so that they dont contain any reference to counter-revolutionary topics such as the Tianamen Square massacre, real history, etc.. Also not included are blogging, email and other such tools.
Apparently the company went through 'an excruciating internal debate' but finally decided, in the words of Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel, "We firmly believe, with our culture of innovation, Google can make meaningful and positive contributions to the already impressive pace of development in China."
To the hard core this sounds like Google is selling out. To me it sounds like hey are trying to change the system from the inside. OK, again for the purists this is doomed to fail as you never achieve the goal you set out to achieve. The final result is a compromise.
What the purists miss though, is that the other side needs to compromise also. Even a small advance would make a big difference for freedom of speech in China. And who knows what abuses of the Google API will be slipped under the Radar by those clever Chinese hackers.
Opportunity.
So are Google now evil? Nah, they may have done a deal with the devil, but the devil doesn't know what's ahead for it. Nobody does - we are talking about technology here, who knows what the next innovation will bring. It could well bring WiFi through gravity waves, or entanglement 'spooky action' based communication devices that make distance no obstacle. By then the Chinese people will notice if their internet gets taken away and they won't take bullshit answers anymore.
Posted by dottie at January 25, 2006 10:00 AM