January 29, 2006
Iconoclast? Or complete Git?
Forty-five entries in Pajamas Media's China Syndrome as I write this. That's 42 admonitions to Google, calls for boycotts, divestiture and general net opprobrium -- and three suggestion for ways to circumvent censorship.
I'm not nearly cool or popular enough for PJM, but I wish one person would take up my mantel. I do realize that I may disagree with every one in the world because I am wrong, but I still think they are missing several things.
1) As mentioned too many times by me before, Google as a corporation has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders. Having ZERO presence in the fastest growing market in the world is not an option.
2) More information will be better to Chinese Internet users than less information.
3) The comparisons between rejecting government calls for porn queries and its Chinese policy is specious. Acceding to government inquiries could reduce profits (shareholder value again) and whether you agree or not, it seems easy to imagine serious opposition to the DoJ request. The Chinese fiat (small f, not a car) is a positive to valuation. The comparison only serves those who use it to flog Google.
The last guy. I'll turn out the lights when I leave.
I won't leave you standing alone. My basic view is that a little freedom is better than none. A Chinese Google is a step in the right direction (beyond having none). The fact that it doesn't make the leap to the total freedom enjoyed by Google searches here should not be condemned. If the ultimate goal is freedom of information why is everyone so against doing it small steps at a time? The all or nothing approach is not without dangers either, vast and quick change breeds backlash. This is true whether you are talking about racism, religious freedom or freedom of information. In this instant gratification society it would be good to remember how many years it took this country to fully embrace some of these freedoms that we expect emerging countries to adopt wholesale from day one.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at January 30, 2006 1:52 PM | What do you think? [1]