Google Vs China

Facing criticism is part of the cost of doing business for large companies, and Google is no exception.Among the chief sources of criticism for the search giant is its accession to the censorship demands of the People's Republic of China. The outcry may soon see a change of tense, however, as the company has announced an end to its cooperation.

Google has long contended that its actions, which include filtering thousands of banned search terms are a matter of complying with applicable law - its operations within China are subject to Chinese law, just as its activities in the United States are governed by U.S law.

Critics have long called for Google to end its cooperation with the Chinese govermnment, while the company has countered that chinese users would suffer greater harm from a complete block than selective filtering. That position has changed, however, after an internal investigation into recent attacks aimed at breaching email accounts from its Gmail service as well as services from atleast twenty other large providers. The accounts targeted in the attack belonged to individuals involved in Chinese human rights activities, including activists within China as well as in the United States and several areas of Europe.