From inside of China things are not so clean cut
So...
- As before, go to www.google.cn and you are redirected to www.google.com.hk
- Innocuous searches in Chinese seem fine as before
- However, do a more "interesting" search, such as 天安门广场事件 (Tiananmen Square Incident), and no page is able to load. A standard error message is displayed instead (in this case "The connection was reset...")
- The same results are also found at www.google.com.tw (the site for Taiwan), www.google.de (the site for Germany), etc.
Some additional points
- Who knows if these same results will hold tomorrow but... this sure isn't an accident. China was clearly prepared in advance for Google's recent actions.
- China's response is not limited to Google's sites in "Greater China" and appears to be an actual extension of its censorship.
- The World Expo opens in Shanghai in just over 40 days. Will be interesting to see if the Google events and those related complicate China's desire to use the World Expo to present a positive image of China to the world (although projections seem to be that the vast majority of visitors will be Chinese).
- The results from inside of China for Google's Hong Kong site also hold true for Google's sites in Spain & Israel (which should be noted have different domain name structures: www.google.es andwww.google.co.il). China is being rather thorough. When it comes to Google, China is breaking the mold of letting more eager Chinese internet users find holes in the wall.
- While 天安门广场事件 (Tiananmen Square Incident) is "blocked", 天安门广场 (Tiananmen Square) is not.
- 天安门广场事件 is not a blocked search on Microsoft Bing in China nor Baidu. However, the search results do appear to be mostly missing any links, images, etc. that one would expect to be censored."
On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the surveillance they uncovered—combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger—had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn.
So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk. Due to the increased load on our Hong Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as we switch everything over.
Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services. We will therefore be carefully monitoring access issues, and have created this new web page, which we will update regularly each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in China.
In terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk. Finally, we would like to make clear that all these decisions have been driven and implemented by our executives in the United States, and that none of our employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them. Despite all the uncertainty and difficulties they have faced since we made our announcement in January, they have continued to focus on serving our Chinese users and customers. We are immensely proud of them.
Just as cicadas thrum more urgently at the start of autumn, sensing that the end is nigh, internet users in China have been seizing in animated fashion on what one called “the last crazy days of Google.cn”.Go read the whole FT article.
With the US technology giant allowing uncensored searches in Chinese for the first time, citizens of the People’s Republic are this week indulging their curiosity ahead of a widely expected crackdown.
“I’ve been doing all sorts of crazy searches, really distracting myself from my work,” says one. “I’ve done Tiananmen Square, the love affairs of national leaders, the corruption of leaders’ children. Everything.”
Another internet user says the buzz of illicit abandon is reminiscent of the mood in Tiananmen Square itself, shortly before the People’s Liberation Army crushed the protests there in 1989. “There is no way that Google will get away with this. They will have to leave China for sure,” he adds.
My 7 year old son was on the computer last night, as I worked on dinner. When he quit and went upstairs, I jumped on to finish an article I had started earlier. I clicked on my history and I see:Radley adds:
“Google search….Big Boobs”
He checked out a few pages. Then I see:
“Google search….Really Big Boobs”
I was a seven-year-old boy once. That progression totally makes sense.Where oh where was Google when I was seven?
[..] The good news is, the kid’s probably headed for a long, healthy life.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Internet searching means that finding information mundane, obscure, or fantastically useful is just a few keystrokes away — but not if you're without a connection to the Internet (or can't read), both the norm for many of the world's poor.Snippets from the site:
Rose Shuman developed a contraption for this under-served population called Question Box that is essentially a one-step-removed Internet search: 'A villager presses a call button on a physical intercom device, located in their village, which connects them to a trained operator in a nearby town who's sitting in front of a computer attached to the Internet. A question is asked. While the questioner holds, the operator looks up the answer on the Internet and reads it back. All questions and answers are logged. For the villager there is no keyboard to deal with. No complex technology. No literacy issues.' This week, Jon Gosier, of Appfrica, launched a web site called World Wants to Know that displays the QuestionBox questions being asked in real time.
2301. What is the use of melanine in humans?
2300. what proceedures must a person go through to hold patent rights when he wants to produce a book?
2299. what are the causes and control of constipation?
2298. are telephone masts hazardous to human health
2297. What is the cause and control of constipation?
2296. what is the least sparse district in uganda
2295. what are the best varieties of beans to plant
2294. what are the signs and syptoms of swine flu in human beings
2293. when was the uganda railway line built?
2292. what food values are got from eating jackfruits?
- Your family photos are accompanied by text ads for skin care and diet plans.
- Removes all Falun Gong references from your files.
- Every month, the hard drive is automatically defragged and investigated for anti-trust violations.
- Invests in, develops, acquires, and abandons your best ideas.
- Integrated tax preparation software includes "I'm Feeling Lucky" deductible button.
- Changes your icons daily, forcing you to look up which obscure scientific figure is having a birthday.
- Spends 20% of its time not doing what you tell it to do.
- Prevents all evil activity unless it is deemed to be for the good of the shareholders.
- Masseuse comes by every Monday afternoon.
- Constant crashes won't bother anybody as long as it's labeled "Beta".
- "Beta" status won't expire until 2038.
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We at the Church of Google believe the search engine Google is the closest humankind has ever come to directly experiencing an actual God (as typically defined). We believe there is much more evidence in favor of Google's divinity than there is for the divinity of other more traditional gods.
We reject supernatural gods on the notion they are not scientifically provable. Thus, Googlists believe Google should rightfully be given the title of "God", as She exhibits a great many of the characteristics traditionally associated with such Deities in a scientifically provable manner.
We have compiled a list of nine proofs which definitively prove Google is the closest thing to a "god" human beings have ever directly experienced.
Political Browser | washington
