一直都不赞成Google在中国大陆开分公司,在这样的政治环境下做事完全不符合Google的作风(当初在看了《撬动地球的Google》这书之后感觉尤甚)。而事实上,即使是这个对环境进行妥协了的阉割版谷歌在中国也不讨好,自06年成立以来一直都很平庸,没太多Google的样子,最近倒是又背负了舆论屈辱 —— 著名的CCAV曝光谷歌涉黄、”相关部门”出面指责谷歌缺乏社会责任感(敢情中国网民都是青少年)、谷歌图书馆计划遭起诉 等等。去年kaifu的离去,对谷歌也是并无益处的。
像我这种普通用户,基本上感受不到什么谷歌存在的好处,或许就是用这个阉割版的google.cn,不会在搜索技术问题的时候被提示”该页无法显示”。 对于互联网广告代理商以及GG Adsense用户而言,会因为这个当地办事处的存在切实获得一些好处。
很诧异网上的一些惶恐言论,感觉有点太言过其实了。对地域性不太敏感是互联网本身的特征之一,即便谷歌的办事处废掉了,Google所有的网络服务还是照旧,继续对中国网站进行收录(除非天朝局域网建成),继续提供简体中文搜索界面及中文内容搜索,继续提供Gmail邮箱访问已经中文界面,继续提供 … … 原有的Google服务基本不受其影响,毕竟Google的核心服务向来都是由放在M国的服务器群提供的。对于互联网广告代理商而言,会有一些影响,但还不至于回到以前从M国收Adsense支票的日子吧。
下面这篇发表在Google Blog上的文章是引起关于Google要关闭谷歌猜测的根源。 划线的那句话讲的真是太酷了。
A new approach to China
1/12/2010 03:00:00 PM
Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.
First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.
Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.
Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers.
We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this U.S. government report (PDF), Nart Villeneuve's blog and this presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.
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. In the last two decades, China's economic reform programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.
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."
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.
Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer
No comments:
Post a Comment