Google’s Chinese weblink is http://www.g.cn,
and it looks about as boring as the http://www.google.com
we’re all used to in the U.S. Just for
the fun of it, I googled Pete Rose using the Chinese Google, and at least in
Minnesota, I wasn’t blocked from receiving information about the best American
baseball player of all time. In fact, the Chinese version of Wikipedia even has
an entry on the Tienanmen Square Massacre. I thought that was interesting, but
since it’s in Chinese, I have no idea what spin it might have; nor do I know if
the average Chinese citizen has access to reading the entry.
I use Google, but it’s not my favorite search engine; I’m a
Yahoo! man, and I probably always will be until they go out of business. But
what if a Chinese search engine company tried to break into the American search
engine market? Would I bite? Doubtful.
The Internet should be borderless, but it does seem rather
odd that Google, an American company, would expect to be successful in China.
After all, China has its own native search engines, and it’s difficult for me
to comprehend what Google brings to the table that’s different or better than
what China can home-grow.
Google’s involvement in the Chinese internet market also
brings up some hairy issues, such as, is it unethical of Google to block sites
because the Chinese government tells it to? In the U.S., basically anything
goes as far as the internet is concerned, but why should all countries follow
the U.S. model?
Sometimes it seems that the U.S. believes that all countries
would be better off if they operated exactly as we do, and while some in the
U.S. might support some forms of censorship, most don’t like heavy-handed
political censorship. Nevertheless, China is a sovereign nation, and it has its
own standards of what it will and won’t allow. It’s somewhat troubling to me
that some people in the U.S. criticize Google for simply following the laws of
the lands in which they operate. As if Google has any other option.
Should American companies operating
in other countries follow the laws of the land? If the U.S. doesn’t condone
certain policies or laws that other countries have, should our government
forbid American companies from operating in those countries?
“With Google I’m starting to burn out on knowing the answer
to everything. People in the year 2020 are going to be nostalgic for the
sensation of feeling clueless.” – Doug Coupland
“We want Google to be the third half of your brain.” –
Sergey Brin
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