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Slowtwitch Forums: Lavender Room:
Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor??

 
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ibchillin

Feb 15, 06 6:07

Post #1 of 7 (261 views)
Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? Can't Post
http://news.yahoo.com/...te/us_china_internet

The feds have their panties in a bunch over Google, Cisco, Yahoo, etc possibly aiding China at censoring their people. My question: why do you care? So what if China doesn't want their kids to surf porn, why is that bad??

"Cooperation with tyranny should not be embraced for the sake of profits," said Smith, R-N.J., chairman of the House International Relations subcommittee on global human rights.

.......hmmm, so WalMart embedded so tightly with China and it's sweatshop labor is OK though (profits!), as long as we don't block the Chinese people from surfing "bad" websites (on computers they don't own because they can't afford them)


ajfranke

Feb 15, 06 8:01

Post #2 of 7 (246 views)
Re: Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? [ibchillin] [In reply to] Can't Post
It is an interesting issue that sets up the often repeated dilema.

In a drug company situation, what do you do with a drug that will save thousands of lives, but for every hundred people the drug saves, it will also kill one person?

In this situation, Google and company seem to be vastly improving the information flow in China, but only at the price of stopping information flow on some topics.

These tradeoffs are just difficult.
____
This forum is going to be a place of civil discourse, and those who wish to foment hate and discord are no longer welcome here. -- slowman 11/8/04

Art Franke


Tridiot

Feb 15, 06 14:26

Post #3 of 7 (212 views)
Re: Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? [ajfranke] [In reply to] Can't Post
Where do we draw the line between US companies following US ideals, and foreign laws? Should we just issue laws saying no US company can do business with China because they might do something that isn't advancing the call of Democracy and free flow of information?

Do we as US consumers want to do business with those companies though? The answer is obviously "Almost no one cares."


ibchillin

Feb 15, 06 14:55

Post #4 of 7 (204 views)
Re: Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? [Tridiot] [In reply to] Can't Post
I think it's a waste of US taxpayer dollars bandying around with the Chinese about this, as well as delaying Google and company getting into China to do business (bad for the stocks and our 401K, if the delay is long)...


Tridiot

Feb 15, 06 15:07

Post #5 of 7 (198 views)
Re: Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? [ibchillin] [In reply to] Can't Post
I've said it a few times on ST (in threads about the Middle East), getting the "bad guys" to do business with us is the absolute best way to spread free market and democracy across the world.

Once we get China hardcore hooked up to the ol' WWW, then they will find ways of getting access to the data the government doesn't want them to see.


vitus979

Feb 15, 06 15:43

Post #6 of 7 (194 views)
Re: Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? [ibchillin] [In reply to] Can't Post
My question: why do you care? So what if China doesn't want their kids to surf porn, why is that bad??

It's a little more serious than internet porn.

Lantos, D-Calif., repeatedly asked whether Yahoo had contacted the family of Chinese journalist Shi Tao, who critics say Yahoo helped police identify and convict after he criticized human rights abuses in China.

You think Yahoo was A-OK in doing that?







"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."


ibchillin

Feb 15, 06 19:32

Post #7 of 7 (183 views)
Re: Why do the feds care if Google helps China censor?? [vitus979] [In reply to] Can't Post
Yahoo denied it, but if they did sure it's bad... However, WalMart and hundreds (thousands?) of other US businesses going over to China have to do "bad" things too (follow Chinese law, different from our laws). There are lots of bad things that go on over there. They're not forcing US companies to pay fair wage to the sweatshop employees, so why all the big concern for following Chinese law?

The feds are just picking their fight, and I think that's garbage. They're inconsistent!



(This post was edited by ibchillin on Feb 15, 06 19:32)