Google declares war on china

[Despanan]

Because the Chinese Government hacked them

[JCC]

Let's nuke the fuckers!

[Ben Lahnger]

Hmmm ... wonder how big the Google hammer really is? Would be interesting if I thought China really felt they need google.cn to prosper, and if they will compromise at all to accommodate Google. Thanks for the link.

[Lochnar]

Interesting...

What would this say about our world as a whole if Google, alone or leading a coalition of 20 odd other mega-corps, manages movement on civil rights in China? Further, this is a subject that other countries and the UN have not made much headway on. Freedom of information is paramount in exposing civil rights violations so a China with unrestricted internet access would be a huge step in the right direction. In a world moving toward globalization will corporate entities have as much, or even more, say in world affairs then countries? Is that a good thing given that a corporate entity answers to no one but its shareholders?

In this case the influence of Google may not be a bad thing but I doubt that will always be the case when looking at such creatures. Would not a world government be a natural reaction to minimizing this corporate influence? A world government would lead to some intriguing problems in and of itself.

That's enough of my rambling for now...

[Tam Li Hua]

As sad as it makes me, nothing China does surprises me. :/ Though, it -would- surprise me if China actually stuck to their guns, and quit doing business with Google altogether.

They don't mind pirated materials being sold in their country [even if it's illegal, there's not much being done to stop it], they don't mind hacking other big-name corporations, but they DO mind their own people having access to all the Interwebs has to offer.

The Chinese Government is so weird.

[Still Jack]

You don't understand that? God, you're quite dimwitted.

I doubt that Google hating China will really make that much of a difference, if Google won't do business with them, someone else will.

[viscus]

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

As sad as it makes me, nothing China does surprises me. :/ Though, it -would- surprise me if China actually stuck to their guns, and quit doing business with Google altogether.

They don't mind pirated materials being sold in their country [even if it's illegal, there's not much being done to stop it], they don't mind hacking other big-name corporations, but they DO mind their own people having access to all the Interwebs has to offer.

The Chinese Government is so weird.

You're not making any sense. Telling Google to fuck off is exactly what the Chinese government is going to do, if Google is serious about this. A foreign company telling them how they should run their own country? Come on, that sort of thing always results in nationalistic indignation on the part of the Chinese government.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Still Jack

You don't understand that? God, you're quite dimwitted.

I doubt that Google hating China will really make that much of a difference, if Google won't do business with them, someone else will.

I don't know, Google taking it's ball and going home could have serious effects on China's already drained economy, and cutting out google completely, arguably the #1 information technology company in the world is going to have an impact considering where technology is going.

Keep in mind, one of the purposes of the attack was to steal Google's technology. If google is so advanced that a major world power decides they have to steal from them...yeah.

[Still Jack]

I'd quite like to know what "intellectual property", as the article states, was stolen. Also, I was thinking more in search engine terms, by looking at where google as a company is going, lets face it, sooner or later there's going to be a google OS and then google hardware, they may possibly even be a google ISP, It would actually hit China pretty hard.

I think the only company quite reckless enough to do business with china could be Microsoft, even though they may be too apprehensive to "share" their "intellectual property" with the Chinese government.

[Corpsey]

Originally Posted by Still Jack

I'd quite like to know what "intellectual property", as the article states, was stolen. Also, I was thinking more in search engine terms, by looking at where google as a company is going, lets face it, sooner or later there's going to be a google OS and then google hardware, they may possibly even be a google ISP, It would actually hit China pretty hard.

I think the only company quite reckless enough to do business with china could be Microsoft, even though they may be too apprehensive to "share" their "intellectual property" with the Chinese government.

Seeing as China cleans up all the world's computers it's only logical I suppose to let them make them.

[KissMeDeadly]

Now China is screwed. Nobody fucks with Google.

[viscus]

Okay, all joking aside, anyone who really thinks that Google can kick around the PRC government is fucking retarded. Really, how important is Google to China? What vital service do they provide that isn't duplicated elsewhere? They make up about a quarter of the internet search market there, most of the rest is taken by the native company Baidu.

I don't know all of the factors at play, but here's how I think it'll go down: Google will say "We're not going to censor our search results anymore." to which China will respond "Then get the fuck out, because we won't stand for foreign interference in the way we regulate our internet." Then Google will exit the Chinese market (in which they weren't making very much money anyway) while being champions of free speech. China will have to play down some backlash among her internet-using population, but it won't be that significant in the grand scheme of things.

[Tam Li Hua]

It's not what Google actually does that's the issue; as the article says, there's a Chinese-based search engine that is more commonly used.

It's the effect that this would have on other countries' view about China. If China screws a big company like Google, then other big-name corporations aren't going to want to do business with them. Eventually, I could see it snowballing to where other governments wouldn't want anything to do with China anymore either.

China's world reputation is always a little shaky, and things like this don't help it much. The Chinese philosophy is to just smile and pretend everything is okay while attempting to cover up the very obvious pink elephant in the room. [It was one of the more annoying things I had to deal with when I was over there. Granted, it was on a much much smaller scale, but the idea was firmly implanted in nearly every Chinese person I encountered; couldn't get a straight answer if they knew the answer wasn't one that they thought I wanted to hear.]

Edit: For the record, I'm not being racist. Just sharing my own observations.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by KissMeDeadly

Now China is screwed. Nobody fucks with Google.

Funny, I was thinking the opposite. Now Google is screwed. Nobody fucks with China.

[PortraitOfSanity]

Google is going to take over the world one day. I for one will be awaiting the arrival of our overweight four-eyed overlords with open arms.

Becuz they haz 1337 sk1llz.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

If China screws a big company like Google, then other big-name corporations aren't going to want to do business with them. Eventually, I could see it snowballing to where other governments wouldn't want anything to do with China anymore either.

That's hilarious. I had forgotten we already had an xjin before xjin showed up.

[viscus]

Originally Posted by Tam Li Hua

It's the effect that this would have on other countries' view about China. If China screws a big company like Google, then other big-name corporations aren't going to want to do business with them. Eventually, I could see it snowballing to where other governments wouldn't want anything to do with China anymore either.

It is true that certain industries don't do well in China, foreign companies set up shop there only to find themselves paying a bunch of bribes, their staff jailed for whatever reason, their product ignored, their intellectual property stolen, and/or themselves being rolled over by state-sponsored competition.

But there are still hundreds of millions of potential Chinese consumers and very cheap manufacturing base there which big companies can't ignore, despite China's "shaky reputation."

Concerning other governments: the US government can't ignore China, it owes her way too much money.

[Despanan]

US State Dept. is now involved

Things just got real people.

[Alan]

[Deadmanwalking_05]

Originally Posted by Alan

Funny, I was thinking the opposite. Now Google is screwed. Nobody fucks with China.

You've both got it wrong....Chuck Norris is the lawnmower and the Collective asses of China and Google just make one big lawn 'o' grass.

[Alan]

I saw your name and said "Deadman talking about something that's not a militia idiot gun thread?" and then wondered what could possibly be your opinion about an issue regarding China.
Then I read a full-assed Chuck Norris... joke?

[Tam Li Hua]

viscus: Hrm, good point.

Originally Posted by Despanan

US State Dept. is now involved

Things just got real people.

It's a statement telling everyone they plan on making a statement!

[Despanan]

It's the US FUCKING STATE DEPARTMENT.

The fact that they're announcing their involvement means that this situation officially graduated from "Corporate Espionage" to "International Incident".

[Tam Li Hua]

Fantastic.

[Ben Lahnger]

Google's China policy could impact Android sales

SOURCE

A possible decision by Google to shut down its business operations in China could have a potentially major effect on its mobile business in the country, analysts said.

Earlier this week, Google said its China operations had suffered serious cyber security attacks, and attempts were made to hack into the GMail accounts of Chinese dissidents and human rights activists--actions the company said will force it to re-evaluate its business in the country. Thus, Google's Android platform for smartphones could take a hit if the company decides to pull out of China.

On one hand, sales of Android phones that have Google's brand and applications--such as GMail and Google Voice--could slow if the company retreats from China. On the other hand, there are several types of devices based on Android that don't have a distinctive Google presence, which might still sell well in the Chinese market.