petersaville.net

The worlds biggest utilized search engine and internet company Google has become the latest technology company to founder against the Great Firewall of China, with the news it will censor its search engine to give it greater access to China's fast-growing market.

A number of human rights organizations are concerned with the move as they say the move by Google is the latest example of a big corporation kow-towing to the Chinese government's stringent demands on internet content.

They say Google has sold out on its corporate mantra: "Don't be evil".

Google.cn, the company's site aimed at boosting its market share in China, was launched yesterday but will censor itself of politically sensitive material to satisfy authorities in Beijing.

The new version could restrict access to thousands of sensitive terms and websites and make searching for information on topics like Tibet, Taiwanese independence and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre even harder.

There are 111m internet users in China and the number is rising swiftly, prompting a campaign by the Chinese government to keep a beady eye on the booming sector.

But a growing market of that size is too big to ignore.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

# posted by Peter Saville - IT Consultant @ 8:57 PM