Google might be leaving China

Jacqueline DiOrio 12 Jan, 2010 at 8:04pm ET Article published in Tech

When Google first opened Google.cn, the Chinese government stipulated that the search engine had to censor its results and content in order to be allowed into the country. Google agreed, ostensibly because the company felt that it could help spread free speech and communication even if it was censored. The billion-person increase to its audience may have been a factor as well.

According to an update posted on the Google Blog, however, the company has revealed that it has been targeted by cyber attacks originating in China; the highly sophisticated attacks have taken intellectual property from Google and other companies. Further, the primary objective of the attacks appear focused on discovering and accessing accounts owned by Chinese human rights activists. Google does not think that the attacks were successful, but it still highly alarmed by this affront to free speech and human rights.

Google also discovered through their investigation that users in the United States and Europe who have advocated human rights policies in China have also had their Google accounts compromised, most likely through local malware, rather than through an overall security breach. Google has used the information gained from examining the attacks to alter and upgrade their security infrastructure.

But that doesn’t appear to be enough for the company, which announced today that it has decided to reconsider offering their services to China. Google SVP, David Drummond said

“We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech,” said Google SVP David Drummond.

“We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.”

For now, it appears Google’s future in China is tentative at best.

Comments

12 Jan 2010 ~ 11:20pm Butters It doesn't seem to me Google would leave China. I think they would adjust their strategy. They still have 29% search engine share of China. Bing, et al & Yahoo combine for 26% in the US.

Baidu, #1 search engine in China was also compromised recently, so Google isn't the only one facing these problems.
12 Jan 2010 ~ 11:22pm Thrax Baidu can't get a foot shoved up its ass by US regulators when US accounts get compromised.
13 Jan 2010 ~ 12:48am Linc A lot more than Google got compromised. Adobe likewise reports it has a similar attack, and Wired says 20 other major companies were hit as well, they just aren't coming forward.

I honestly think this is Google finally giving the bird to the Chinese government, especially since signs point to them being the origin of the attack.
13 Jan 2010 ~ 12:48am Linc Forgot link: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/google-censorship-china/
13 Jan 2010 ~ 5:38am Snarkasm VeriSign says 30 companies, even more than Google's estimate. They're actively looking into it, and all signs point to it being orchestrated by people influenced or directly employed by official intelligence agencies of the People's Republic of China - big surprise.
13 Jan 2010 ~ 1:06pm GnomeQueen I read today that it's up to 33 companies now.
13 Jan 2010 ~ 2:02pm Garg The photo from the BBC article kind of blew me away.

BBC wrote:

Google users have been leaving flowers outside the firm's headquarters
13 Jan 2010 ~ 2:19pm primesuspect I'm sure the average Chinese citizen will certainly lament the loss of Google in china. All politics aside, Google is hugely useful. I know I certainly cannot imagine life without google right now.

It is probable that the average, connected, Chinese geek (our chinese counterparts, for lack of a better term) are not exactly 100% behind their government's decisions in this matter. Of course, the difference is, they can't be vocal about it.
13 Jan 2010 ~ 5:30pm Snarkasm The flowers outside of HQ are supposed to be signs of support - thanks for lifting the censor.

The average, connected Chinese geek, however, will still primarily use Baidu, and will use a proxy if they need to get out to Google even if they pull out entirely.
13 Jan 2010 ~ 9:14pm spin498 Why are they surprised by this and what on earth makes them think they can 'resolve' the issue with the gov't there. I think some people should have spent a little more time in history class. China is a repressive, deceitful, underhanded society. It's a very long history but at the risk of being decried as racist no one will acknowledge that truth.
14 Jan 2010 ~ 12:39am NiGHTS One would think to save whatever little is left of a foothold in a country absolutely exploding with growth and potential, in which points of entry are limited and success very rare.