Google in China: My Point of View

More to the Point
Google and Skype
By DR. FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID
January 26, 2010, 4:29pm

Google's recent decision to withdraw from China on account of what is described as continuing “Chinese cyberoppression” was received by “netizens” all over the world as a positive development. Columnist Nicolas Kristof of International Herald Tribune hailed it, saying that Google had shown spine. This was prompted by China’s hacking of Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. In fact, there is speculation that the assault on the computers of the Dalai Lama, and foreign embassies which extended to more than 100 countries all over the world was started by China or havens where it had control. In the beginning, Google tried to cooperate with its Chinese partners by censoring search results. But finally, it said, that enough is enough, and that it would back out of China unless the latter allowed it to run its search engine without censorship(Braid F.R. February 2010).

This “turnaround” elicited from the young, as well as, online human rights activists praises who commended Google for its defense of freedom of expression. Most of last year, Google was under attack for disregarding intellectual property rights of authors when it started building a digital library and bookstore(Braid F.R. February 2010).

It was heavily criticized for its privacy practices and even the federal government began anti-trust investigations into its business(Braid F.R. February 2010).

Today, more than a million people in China are using special software to circumvent the nation’s complex online censorship system, described as the “Great Firewall” so that they can visit Web sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It is reported that more and more people not only in China but also in the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Australia, are using proxy servers, virtual private networks and similar computer tools to skirt restrictions to banned online information(Braid F.R. February 2010).

According to Reporters without Borders, 60 countries today censor the Internet in comparison with 37 in 2008. In addition to child pornography, legal pornography, anti-government material, and some Wikipedia entries have also been banned(Braid F.R. February 2010).

Having demonstrated the economic and political implications of Google, let me now turn to Skype, a technology software that allows one to make calls from his computer to that of another. It enables individuals and business enterprises to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages, and share files with other Skype users. Founded in 2003, it is now responsible for eight percent of global international calling minutes. The people behind it say that its primary goal is economic – to educate and attract large organizations to improve their organizational productivity by enhancing the way they communicate through an inexpensive medium. But Joel Stein, in his column in the January 18 issue of Time Magazine, asks why some people do not use it more often, considering that it is for free(Braid F.R. February 2010).

In my own point of view that was the right decision to pursue the withdrawal of the operation of Google in China. Clients or Internet users must have privacy from unauthorized disclosure of personal accounts.It only emphasizes that right to privacy must prevail.