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When people in China use Google, they sometimes find certain words or phrases have been blocked by government censors. A new feature Google is offering users in China will point out which search words may be problematic and suggest alternatives.

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This is awesome and I want to shake the hands of everyone at Google.

Back when Google first agreed to work with China, censorship-wise, some little part of me hoped that the company wasn't actually selling out to the regime, but was secretly trying to gain its trust and undermine it. The rest of me knew that idea was foolish, but I still hoped.

I guess I was right?

Well, it'll be good for people who don't know how to use a proxy in the first place.

Soliloquy said:

This is awesome and I want to shake the hands of everyone at Google.

Back when Google first agreed to work with China, censorship-wise, some little part of me hoped that the company wasn't actually selling out to the regime, but was secretly trying to gain its trust and undermine it. The rest of me knew that idea was foolish, but I still hoped.

I guess I was right?

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Personally, I hope you are wrong. Companies exist to make a profit, and I don't think I'd be very comfortable when they began taking political stances against ruling governments. They should stick with doing business in accordance with existing laws and directives.

TommiR said:

Personally, I hope you are wrong. Companies exist to make a profit, and I don't think I'd be very comfortable when they began taking political stances against ruling governments. They should stick with doing business in accordance with existing laws and directives.

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If the law says you have to eat a baby every other week they'd better do it...

This is why we can't have nice D&D alignments...

Sure you can. TommiR 's Lawful Neutral, the Chinese Gov't is Lawful Evil, Google's Neutral Good and therefore tryingg to undermine the "Evil" while still sticking to "Lawful". Or something.

Bubble181 said:

Sure you can. TommiR 's Lawful Neutral, the Chinese Gov't is Lawful Evil, Google's Neutral Good and therefore trying to undermine the "Evil" while still sticking to "Lawful". Or something.

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There's no lawful neutral, just lawful "whatever morals the local laws dictate you have"...

TommiR said:

Personally, I hope you are wrong. Companies exist to make a profit, and I don't think I'd be very comfortable when they began taking political stances against ruling governments. They should stick with doing business in accordance with existing laws and directives.

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I get it.

Great story plot- company comes in and undermines a tyrannical government, they are heroes! But ultimately their vigilante ways lead them to be a government unto themselves and then they become the tyrants!

I'd watch that.

makare said:

I get it.

Great story plot- company comes in and undermines a tyrannical government, they are heroes! But ultimately their vigilante ways lead them to be a government unto themselves and then they become the tyrants!

I'd watch that.

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It could be a good movie. Though it might strain suspension of disbelief to think that a multinational multi-billion-dollar company had some greater humanist motives to begin with.

An interesting plot twist might be if the company was really interested only in their bottom line to begin with, and their heroic image was only the product of a good pr department. In truth, they did all kinds of horrible shit in the country after bribing the new bosses (same as the old bosses), while leaving the people there in the throes of absolute poverty and their country strip mined of all useful exploitable resources, and their environment ravaged through the dumping of industrial waste from their operations into rivers and stuff.

Or, you know, they could just do business within the limits of the law, and not get involved in politics beyond the norm. Whether they operate in China or the US, or in places in Africa, South America, or where ever.

Oh yeah the heroism is a illusion for sure.