GOOGLE -v.s.- CHINA

Google's China threat is a rare show of defiance

China official's comments on Internet control
Comments follow Google's threat to quit China over censorship and hacking
By Chris Buckley

updated 42 minutes ago
BEIJING - A senior Chinese official told companies to support the government's Internet controls on Thursday, suggesting scant room for compromise with Google after the company threatened to quit China over censorship and hacking.

Here are key quotes from Wang Chen, the minister of the State Council Information Office, who did not mention Google in his comments, which appeared on the office's Web site and in state media. The Information Office is a public relations arm of the Chinese government.

Internet worries
"China's Internet is entering an important stage of development, confronting both rare opportunities and severe challenges.""The Internet is bringing massive changes to social life, as well as making life much more convenient for many, but at the same time problems with Internet security are increasingly stark."

Wang said the main security problems on the Internet included "the severe threat to the physical and mental health of minors from Internet pornography." He also listed hacker attacks, and Internet viruses and fraud.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34860637/ns/technology_and_science-security/
Older-
-Joe McDonald and Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writers – Wed Jan 13, 4:07 pm
BEIJING –

Google's threat to end its operations in China over censorship and computer-security concerns could embarrass communist leaders who crave international respect. Yet it appears unlikely that many other companies would follow suit and try to change how business is done in China.
"As long as you aren't involved in politics, the media or pornography, the government will leave you alone," said Siva Yam, president of the United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce, which primarily represents U.S. companies in China.
Such high-tech companies as Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. had no comment on Google's announcement Tuesday that it would stop censoring results on its Chinese search engine at Google.cn and might leave the country entirely.
Yahoo Inc. said it was "aligned" with Google's position, though it's not clear what that would mean. Yahoo closed its offices in China several years ago when it sold much of its business there to the Alibaba Group. Yahoo retains a 39 percent stake in Alibaba, and Yahoo spokeswoman Nina Blackwell declined to say whether the company would consider selling its holdings.
Google angered free-speech advocates when it created its China search engine, Google.cn, in 2006 and agreed to exclude links to sites blocked by government filters, popularly known as the Great Firewall of China.
Now Google's decision to confront Beijing might help repair its image.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_google

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