Very disappointed in Google. I guess age caught up with those guys. They were young and idealistic when they came up with the "Don't be Evil" motto and cannot live up to it any more.

Dear Vijay,

I have been studying Google, as part of my job search, these past two weeks and I find this practice of giving away customers/consumers information very hard to digest from what I have read on their site. In fact, Google was one of top three companies that I recently sent my resume to. Have you expressed your concerns to Google directly? If not, I would suggest that you do so, as I cannot believe Google would ever sacrifice the integrity of their company, which has been built upon and has become successful by doing what is right. I hope it is not so, as I found Google so very refreshing. But I do know if this is true, I do not want to work for them.

Love,
Char

Divya,
Thanks for the note.

Char,

I think you should still apply to Google, for I think they are better than the other two. I have friends in all three and I have heard great things about Google and how they treat their employees.

Divya,
I saw a hindi movie "rang de basanti" recently..i know you don't watch hindi movies but give it a try..If you watch it ...i would like to know what you think about the movie..

com v. cn: fascinating!

this computer we need to get 'flamed on' as Johnny Storm would say, and everywhere

integral in the soon to become almost instantaneous world collective

Why is there not a Peace channel, you know, like the "War channel" that constantly shows grand and 'heroic' battles and disasters, we could instead have a channel of perpetual peaceful studies, MLK, Gandi, St. Teresa, etc.?

peace

Thank you Vijay :-) ... I have also heard that Google treats their employees very well via several friends not employeed by Google, and it's nice to hear it again. Hey, put in a good word for me if you will, not that you know me from Adam's apple or do you? ... don't mind me - just having fun and playing. Love, Char

FYI: If anyone is interested, check out google.com and click on 'about google.' They also provide complementary gourmet food all day long to their employees ... my favorite perk :-)

Hi Vijay

Interesting to speculate about. If the founders keep their original vision, evolution towards openness on the web in China will happen. Google's products are big worldwide because they are (so far) undeniably good products that have some integrity. This makes them massively popular. Google and its products have enormous leverage as a result. Who'd have thought, 10 years ago, that Google (diluted or not) would be a force in China. Google didn't exist, and the web was not an issue in China. Both have evolved, and perhaps it will only be surprising if they do not both continue to do so.

Cheers, Heather

Another icon bites the dust?

Hypocrisy is when someone claims to conform to a set of standards but that claim turns out to be a lie. It is sad to read a story at Intentblog in which people are more interested in pointing fingers than ascertaining the truth.

Firstly, Google freely admits that it does censor results in China as required by the Chinese government.

Secondly, the only thing that stops Chinese from accessing the international Google.com homepage is their government firewalls, not Google.

Google's decision is a tradeoff between providing NO service to the population of China and providing LIMITED service. Their official position is also explained here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/google-in-china.html

I guess, its far more "interesting" to demonize a large company than to take some time and understand its strategy.

A very relevant piece of information. Would be interesting to see how it moves next.

Why does truth need to be negotiated?
Truth, by definition, is for all.
Love,
Donatella

The American govt has asked Google to submit all the records it has of all its users....while this is wrong and a definite invasion of privacy and Google is opposing it in the " interests of its users" ...one thing is not clear . why does Google have the records in the first place anyway?

And what is the 'strategy' there Anshul. It is a hypocrisy for google to say NO to US protecting privacy and be in bed with the Chinese to have better access to their markets.

It is not like Google is opening the world of search engines to China. Baidu, Yahoo , MSN and a plethora of other search engignes are already there, google is getting in to only save its wn ass and profits.

When Big companies talk big when they are small and act small when they big, that's a hypocrisy.

Dave, I wonder if you even bothered to read the official Google statement on their policy, where they've clearly explained that while they're not happy with this move, it represents the best step that meets their goals.

They are a company, and not an NGO or a social-work organization - they exist to make profits. What would you have them do?

Agree with Anshul,

Google is a doing a great job of providing information to whoever that asks.

If some government want to censor, then the people should fight for their rights not Google, how can it possibly be Google's responsibility?

They can feel sorry for the people, but that's the best anyone can do.

This is the same as,
Lets say the company I work for puts a restriction on the usage of IM software, and I think I need it, it is not the responsibility of the IM software company to have this restriction removed. I have to convince, explain, fight to get what I want.

It is harsh to just simply hit out at Google. I know, the basic premise could at the outset seem totally cold-blooded but they clearly had no other option. Like the guys at Google say “While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission"
They are obviously not happy about censoring information but they had to comply with the Chinese laws if they were to realistically function in the country. It was either censored Google or no Google – they chose the first option. They had to work within that system!!
Don’t we remember how BBC was kicked out of china when someone on it spoke against dictatorship.
At least, Google is going to inform its Chinese users when access is restricted which will make them aware that information is limited.
When you operate in a local market, you need to work with in the local laws whether you like it or not!
We CANNOT compare Google’s policy to protect privacy in US and its censorship in China. United States is a free country. The administration doesn’t have any business spying on its citizens. If it does – How is it any different from China?

The standard uncontrolled Google.com will also be available to the Chinese, if they can manage to overcome the government-operated fire wall. But, the dictators kind of ensure it runs in a totally screwed up fashion!!
At WEF Davos , Larry Page, co-founder of Google refused to comment on the issue. He obviously has to watch over his employees in China.
A country that sends someone to jail over an E-mail will do just about anything they fancy!!!

Vijay:

I tend to agree with Anshul on the point of profit. I think business is to make profits for its stakeholders.. and if I find as an owner of stocks that my money is not being put to best use.. then it is obvious that the CEO has to go! Its tough to fight the Governments of the day.

However, what I admire abt Google is that they have hitherto resisted the Govt. for giving the search data as Yahoo and MSN have simply given into!!

Cheers,
Desh
Drishtikone.com
(also write on Desicritics.org)

Agree with Anshul. Havent you heard the global slogan " Think global, act local" . Thats what Google is doing, I see nothing wrong.

Just finished reading Google's statement. While I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, I think it is worthwhile that many people expressed their concern at Google's capitualtion and Google too acknowledges that they are not happy about it. I don't agree with a blanket statement that a coropration needs to work in the best interest of its shareholders. There are far more important concerns than that.

Hey Folks,

Thanks for your comments. Many of them, including me have been a little ticked off because Google was the company to look upto intodays world of corporate bullying and those who are in big corporates in upper management, will be subtly agreeing with me now. As you can see in my comments, in reply to Char, I still think Google is a great company and we do realize the challenges of doing business.

Google had a choice,to go to China as Google,not to go at all to China or to increase its stake in Baidu.com and keep Google out of the censorship and they by still profit from the market and keep the dogma image of Google. Google wanted to penetrate its brand image and was willing to work with the rules of China and get in there.

Mind you there are several big big companies that refuse to do business with China because of it track record on Human rights, so its not like you cannot survive in the corporate world withou doing business in China, infact China cannot survive if we don't give them business.

Google is now not in many people's list of super ethical companies. They are a company that puts profits and market share ahead of ethics and human values.

I wonder how many of them sold off their Google stocks. Not just Google, but all American companies in China should get out of China. Many companies will be affected and some wil go bankrupt, but America will stay strong. China will collapse.

That was quick, but I don't think the chinese government will let it be there for long. They will plug it soon or it might be a foul play by google to allow users to access the world through google.cn:)

I don't know why everyone is so upset about this. On the surface it is concerning however, everyone knows that there are many ways around it. I have read 3 such articles in papers in the last couple of days with detailed instructions and website addresses that are functioning as portals.

It seems to be just some political posturing at most.

Interesting as I have read all the comments above and can only deduct, if someone or a group compromises ethics and values in just 'one' area, then that circle will complete itself as such, unless it is corrected.

One bad apple will eventually corrupt the whole bunch, unless it is thrown out. I have personally learned this the hard way, as I assume most have.

However, the saving grace is that Spirit can renew and change all things. So who is to say whom is renewing who?

Evil is a tool for transformation, as only good truly exist and love is the only power.

Well, that's my 2 cents at the moment, which is always subject to change.

Hey, Anshul ... Thanks for that link. I only read a few news releases and they were very interesting. I guess it all depends on how one views good & evil and what is right and what is wrong .... ~Char

I am disappointed with Google as well. If it had come from any other company, i would have passed it off as a pragmatic business decision. But it has come from a company which built its whole business with their "you can make money without doing evil" slogan. This is a clear sign of hypocrisy.

I really wonder how succumbing to Chinese govt. is business need whereas succumbing to US govt. is wrong. If succumbing to govt. itself is wrong, then it should be the same way with all the govts. If it is not the case, it is a plain case of hypocrisy.

I am not surprised at this behaviour of Google at all. After all this is the company that fired an employee for writing about Google in his blog while claiming "Democracy on the web works." in the corporate information page.

char,

They not only give you free food, they even give you free wireless internet access in their company bus. It is just a way to make you spend more time on work than anything else. Beware of such tactics in the name of employee appeasement.