Why only non compliance with China's laws, but not thailand..turkey, poland,etc http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/18/technology/google_china_censorship/ Banned ... by Google By David Goldman, staff writerMarch 20, 2010: 6:08 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In Turkey, it's a crime to defame the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk or to ridicule "Turkishness." So Google restricts access to videos that the government of Turkey deems illegal on google.com.tr. In Germany, France and Poland, it is illegal to publish pro-Nazi material or content that denies the Holocaust. To comply with those countries' laws, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) does not display links to those sites on its search results pages on the company's German site google.de, French site google.fr or Polish site google.pl. And in Thailand, denigrating the Thai monarch is against the law, so Google blocks YouTube videos in Thailand that ridicule King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Google controls nearly two-thirds of the world's search results, making it the Internet gateway for most people. As a result of that clout, Google's censorship policies are closely watched.
What is Google trying to do? Trying to be a leader in business and technology, or a moral enforcer and a champion of American values in other countries that have different cultures and customs? If I were a shareholder, I would like to see Google make money rather than be a self-righteous moral advocate. Losing the Chinese market for wanting to allow search on porn and political dissidents in China is simply stupid. I suspect Washington may be behind Google's move.
Totally agree. As a non-shareholder, I applaud Google's stance vs. Chinese censorship. But if I was a shareholder, I'd be furious!