Google has gone

As flickr, who is actually a separate company, uses google signin/login processes.. is it also no longer available in China? Can someone confirm please? this is the place I was going to use for my image storage while on my holiday (starting on April 17)

According to China Tech news yesterday, now that Google is out of China, Tencent, the Chinese company behind QQ, is looking to grow their search engine, Soso.com:

http://www.chinatechnews.com/2010/04/07/11860-chinas-tencent-to-focus-more-on-search-engine-services

Interesting.... anyone used Soso?

[From the Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 30 March 2010]:

The [Australian] Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has launched a stinging attack on Google and its credibility in response to the search giant's campaign against the government's internet filtering policy.  ..

The government intends to introduce legislation within weeks forcing all ISPs to block a blacklist of "refused classification" websites for all Australians. ..

Google, which has recently been involved in a censorship spat with China, has been one of the filtering policy's harshest critics. It has identified a range of politically sensitive and innocuous material, such as sexual health discussions and discussions on euthanasia, which could be blocked by the filters. ..

Google also said implementing mandatory filtering across Australia's millions of internet users could "negatively impact user access speeds", while filtering material from high-volume sites such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter "appears not to be technologically possible as it would have such a serious impact on internet access".  "We have a number of other concerns, including that filtering may give a false sense of security to parents, it could damage Australia's international reputation and it can be easily circumvented," Google wrote. ..

Senator Conroy:  "[Google CEO Eric] Schmidt said the following: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place'. This is the founder of Google. He also said recently to Wall Street analysts, 'we love cash', so when people say, shouldn't we just leave it up to the Googles of this world to determine what the filtering policy should be...."

A newspaper poll has 3% of Australians agreeing and 96% of Australians opposed to the Government plans.  That's democracy.  

We forget that there is a lot of self-censorship of the Internet in the West.  In Australia, most large corporations and of course Government bureaucracies install customised filters to ensure that their employees are not 'distracted'.  Every place I have worked in in recent years has had some form of screening.  

In the debate over the current Australian Government proposals to install a Great Aussie Fire Wall I was amused to see an Australian Government employee complaining that recently his department was screening Baidu!  (Why they would do this is anyone's guess, but bureaucrats do enjoy controlling information.)   

Actually, even though I support Google's decision, I am puzzled by it.  I have heard that some experts believe that the cyber attacks were probably done by amateurs, not the Chinese government.  I suppose perhaps Google doesn't buy it.  At any rate, I'm not used to corporations throwing business away so easily, so I can't help wonder if there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than what we are aware of.

‘internet censorship agenda slammed by tech giants'

Australia's biggest technology companies, communications academics and many lobby groups have delivered a withering critique of the government's plans to censor the internet.

ASHER MOSES,March 23, 2010 - 4:38PM

Which government are we talking about here? The Chinese Government? Um, sadly no. This is today's story about the Australian Government's plan to do a Great Fire Wall.

'Google ends web censorship for China' 

Well, they've 'gone', and I am still trying to establish what 'gone' means.  google.com or google.cn now takes you to the HK site.  For the Chinese customer who previously used Google.com there is no change so far. If you live in China your searches are still screened whether you are using a site in China, HK or the US.  My ability to search for information is the same as it was before, as far as I can see. The business difference presumably is the absence of a cn site for advertising.  

If Baidu (百度) did the same thing as Google, a lot of Chinese people would support it. Unfortunately, Google is not a Chinese company. So, after all, it's a matter of nationalism, as is often the case in the PRC.

Google got the marketing karma in the West. That's all they needed. There's no reason to actually pull out of China. They just needed the soapbox from which to shout their "holier than thou" advertisement.

Wasn't necessarily the government behind the attacks, mind you...

http://lastwatchdog.com/googles-china-threat-ignite-cyber-cold-war/

As April 9 is the Holy Friday of Christians, leaving China on April 10 (Great Saturday) could have a DEEP meaning : Resurrection is coming ! ;o)

I wonder, maybe Google owns information the rest of the world doesn't have yet?

After all, they are the masters of data management and data analysis. They most definately have tools to evaluate the future economical, social, and political direction of a market. Who knows, Google's behaviour might be read a warning sign by the rest of the world?

//The Chinese government has said it doesn't engage in cyber attacks//

of course not, PERISH the thought!

So, the PRC needs Google, but can't get it on the terms they want. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out in the long run.

I believe the CCP will block Google (Chinese), but not other Googles, because China needs them.

I saw a headline yesterday:

China to Google: Toe the Line

I'm glad Google is not just simply caving in. 

That said, I hope gmail continues to work.