. Earth Science News .
TRADE WARS
Google search feature blocked in China, licence in limbo

CEO plays cool as Google search function blocked in China
London (AFP) July 1, 2010 - Google CEO Eric Schmidt downplayed fears over the Internet giant's position in China on Thursday, amid a row over censorship and the blocking of a search feature there. "I want to be clear. The Chinese government has the arbitrary ruling to shut Google down... So far they have not done so," Schmidt told a conference in London. Earlier Thursday, Google said it had yet to receive a response from the government in China -- the world's largest Internet market -- on its application to renew its Internet Content Provider licence that expired Wednesday.

Schmidt said in London that Google representatives had spoken with Chinese authorities on Thursday, even though he himself had not taken part in the discussions. In China, the Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed official in charge of Internet administration as saying the licence renewal application had been submitted late and government agencies were "using the time to go through procedures". "A quick reply is expected soon," the official said.

The firm that administers Google.cn pledged in the application letter to "abide by the Chinese law" and "provide no law-breaking contents," the official added, according to Xinhua. Meanwhile, the spat between Google and the Chinese government spilled over into the diplomatic arena, with Washington and Beijing waging a months-long war of words on the issues of Internet freedom and troubles faced by foreign firms in China. State media on Thursday accused Google of being "two-faced" in its handling of the censorship issue.

"Google is trying to score political points in the West while benefiting from China's economy," said an article published in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece. Google has said that search queries produced by its Google Suggest function appeared to be blocked for mainland users in China, but that normal searches that do not use query suggestions were unaffected. Google Suggest provides a user with suggested words as they type a query into the Google search box.
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) July 1, 2010
A Google search feature remained blocked in China Thursday as the deadline for renewal of the US web giant's operating licence passed with no word from Beijing, amid a fractious row over censorship.

Google said it had yet to receive a response from the government in China -- the world's largest Internet market -- on its application to renew its Internet Content Provider licence, which expired on Wednesday.

"We are waiting to hear from the government," Jessica Powell, Google's Tokyo-based spokeswoman, told AFP.

The Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed official in charge of Internet administration as saying the licence renewal application had been submitted late and government agencies were "using the time to go through procedures".

"A quick reply is expected soon," the official said.

The firm that administers Google.cn pledged in the application letter to "abide by the Chinese law" and "provide no law-breaking contents," the official added, according to Xinhua.

Calls to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the main regulator of China's Internet industry, went unanswered for a second straight day.

Google said Tuesday it would stop automatically redirecting Chinese users to an unfiltered site in Hong Kong, a process it began in March in response to state censorship and cyberattacks it claims came from China.

The change in tack in China -- which has more than 400 million Internet users -- was aimed at addressing government complaints about the censorship issue.

On Wednesday, Google said search queries produced by its Google Suggest function appeared to be blocked for mainland users in China, but that normal searches that do not use query suggestions were unaffected.

Google Suggest provides a user with suggested words as they type a query into the Google search box. Typing in the letters "ob," for example, may prompt a suggestion for "Obama."

AFP attempts to conduct searches on Google Suggest in mainland China on Thursday did not prompt any suggestions.

A web page maintained by Google on the accessibility to its services in mainland China, google.com/prc/report.html, listed its web search service as "partially blocked" as of Wednesday.

But on Thursday, the status was "fully or mostly accessible", as it had been on previous days this week.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether the change in accessibility was linked to the ongoing dispute with the Chinese authorities over censorship.

Google said Tuesday all mainland users would now be directed to a new landing page on google.cn, which links to the uncensored Hong Kong site.

"It's clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable -- and that if we continue redirecting users, our Internet Content Provider license will not be renewed," Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said on the company's official blog.

"Without an ICP licence, we can't operate a commercial website like google.cn -- so Google would effectively go dark in China," he said.

Drummond said Google re-submitted its business licence application based on what it called a "new approach."

"This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self-censor and, we believe, with local law," Drummond said.

The spat between Google and the Chinese government spilled over into the diplomatic arena, with Washington and Beijing waging a months-long war of words on the issues of Internet freedom and troubles faced by foreign firms in China.

State media on Thursday accused Google of being "two-faced" in its handling of the censorship issue.

"Google is trying to score political points in the West while benefiting from China's economy," said an article published in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Global Trade News



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


TRADE WARS
Taiwan targets Asian countries for FTAs: report
Taipei (AFP) June 30, 2010
Taiwan is now looking to forge several free trade agreements in Asia after signing a sweeping and historic pact with China, a report said on Wednesday. Taipei and Beijing put pen to paper on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing Tuesday, in the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former rivals. Bolstered by the m ... read more







TRADE WARS
Storm delays deployment of Gulf containment vessel: official

Polls in quake-hit Haiti set for November

Dozens of children reportedly among China landslide victims

China struggles to find 106 still buried in landslide

TRADE WARS
Apple hit with lawsuit over iPhone 4 antenna woes

New Multi-Year LTA With EADS Astrium To Power All GEO Satellites

Google News revamped to get more personal

Ball Aerospace Begins Integration Of CrlS Instrument For NPP Weather Satellite

TRADE WARS
Whiter Clouds Could Mean Wetter Land

Asia in the grip of water crisis: Asian Development Bank

Britain had driest start to year since 1929: forecasters

Deep Thinking On The World's Oceans

TRADE WARS
China sets sail for the Arctic

Answer To What Ended The Last Ice Age May Be Blowing In The Winds

New Light On Antarctica's Melting Pine Island Glacier

Antarctic ice melt: 10 percent of sea rise

TRADE WARS
Institutions snap up China AgBank subscriptions

China's AgBank launches world-record IPO

Paraguay dispels gloom with soya bonanza

Maize Prices Driving A Rise In Feed Prices

TRADE WARS
Romania flood death toll climbs to 24: official

Hurricane Alex churns across northeast Mexico

One dead in strong Mexico quake

Hurricane Alex delays Gulf oil cleanup efforts

TRADE WARS
Foreign agents in shooting of Rwandan general: S.Africa

G.Bissau army chief installed despite international protest

U.S. military contractors eye Africa

Nigerian leader to promote more foreign investment

TRADE WARS
Man-Made Global Warming Started With Ancient Hunters

If We Build 'Walkable' Neighborhoods, Will People Walk

Discovery Of 3.6 Million-Year-Old Relative Of 'Lucy'

3.6 million-year-old 'Lucy' relative found


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement