Google - A New Approach to China

Earlier this month Google reported on its blog that it had been hacked. Analysis of the security breach shocked Google executives who decided to spill the beans in this blog posting.

In summary, Google says that it and "at least 20 other large companies...including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors..." were hacked. Google had intellectual property stolen as a result of the hacking incident and informed the other companies and U.S. law enforcement of its findings. More concerning was Google's discovery that the orchestrated attack was focused on accessing Gmail accounts in the U.S., China and Europe and the account owners are known Chinese human rights activists who have also suffered at the hands of "phishing scams or malware..."

Although Google recognizes the benefits China has brought its people in recent years it says it's blowing the whistle on the incident "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."

When Google agreed to censor its search engine results as a condition of operating in China in 2006 it had its fingers crossed behind its back. Now, it says as a result of the attacks "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."

Cynics of Google's moves say that the reason for the potential withdrawal from China is the fact the search giant only has the #2 spot in China with 36% of the market compared to Baidu's 58% and hasn't been able to dominate as it has elsewhere.