Post Google, Post show-and-tell thoughts..

For the less informed: Times and Google Blog

Quite stunning news, in fact, also inspiring.. Having just returned from China, I can attest to how bad the internet situation in China. It would seem they have a temporary IP jammer that blocks your IP each time you try to access sensitive content. We were tasked to work on a project that involves industrial pollution in china. Guess what, all the photos are blocked when you try to click on the links, your IP is then recored(I speculate) and any URL that links out from your search page are then blocked.

eg. Suppose I open a google page and search for 'starbucks', I next open a page for 'dalai lama', The dalai page will be blocked. And when I go back to click on a starbucks links it'll be blocked too.

T
his is added upon the fact that twitter, youtube and facebook are blocked. It would seem that China has willingly excluded itself from the internet. And with the incoming google departure Chinese netizens may be left with a regional network for themselves.

Now, I want to do a bit of speculation as to what will happen post-showdown. Google is taking a very unconventional hardline stand against the traditionally very hardline China. This should imply they've expected that China will not give in, coupled with the "breaking borders" award they announced on the 6th, which is given to outstanding individuals/websites that uphold freedom of speech and human rights, we should see Google taking a much more active role in maintaining integrity on the web.

Google's share price dropped by 3.84% after the announcement, but David Drummond, the Chief Legal Officer of Google, seemed unperturbed when interviewed by CNN, citing that profits in China are insignificant. He may well be right, already there are critics questioning if everything is a self-orchestrated publicity stunt, whatever it may be, the announcement has, without a doubt, gave Google a massive publicity boost. Now on the absolute high ground in terms of human rights and freedom of speech, Google is expanding it's brand name beyond the field of IT, to some other field that can affect everyone in the world. One wonders if it may become like some sort of red cross, since it allows information to be conveyed across the internet like no other.

The next to consider is the domino effect. China has been known to protect it's domestic industries against foreign industries. Google's stand may lead to various other MNOs deciding to do the same, Google leaving may not be a big deal, but how many different MNOs can China lose in a time of economic turmoil. Not only that, but this stand has propelled Google to a moral high ground, meaning future enterprises that enter or associate themselves with China will face pressure from human rights groups should they comply with the rules China impose. Should that become the case, the negative impact will make things really difficult, because its not worth it to lose the rest of the world for the market of China. 1.3 Billion VS 5 Billion is simple maths anyone can do.

That said, I'm really excited about how this whole thing is gonna play out, never has a corporation stand against a country, and the funny thing is that most netizens of china are with Google. Today a group of Chinese went to the Google HQ to offer bouquets, they were denied by the security guards and the official statement made by the science park is that one has to make an official request to offer flowers, or its illegal, or 非法献花. I think will be epic, the history of China has traditionally consisted of revolutions after revolutions, this particular government has been pretty good at preventing a change in leadership, with their various tools, but it would be interesting to see how they deal with this particular episode(my guess is extreme downplaying)

Anyway, here's something from world war 2, written by Martin Niemoller, a polish priest..

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out
because I was a protestant;
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out.