Godaddy is the largest domain registrar in the world. They will no longer sell .cn domains, since China started to demand more info. about their users. Network Solutions is also pulling out.

I am also a GoDaddy user.

In response to new rules, GoDaddy to stop registering domain names in China - Washington Post

In December, China began to enforce a new policy that required any registrant of a new .cn domain name to provide a color, head-and-shoulders photograph and other business identification, including a Chinese business registration number and physical, signed registration forms. That data was to be forwarded to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), a quasi-governmental agency. Most domain name registries require only a name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

Labels: china's future, google

My 2 cents :-)

1. China did not expect Google to do what it did. Forwarding Google.Cn to Google.hk
   
2. China's government will "suggest" to Google's partners within China, to find another partner. This will substantially reduce the revenue for Google within China.
3. China's Golden Wall will continue to censor individual Google pages from Google.hk that Google.cn as accessed from within China.
4. China's government is going to be very careful on dealing with Google and has not decided how to react yet, beyond the suggestions to partners and blocking individual page results.
5. China's government has lost face by how Google has thought outside the box.
6. China's government considers control of information of the Internet within China as key to continuing in power. They don't want an Orange or Green revolution to happen within China.
7. China's government is favoring Chinese companies over foreign companies. And government run companies over private Chinese companies.
8. Microsoft will not follow what Google has done.
9. Leaving China has helped Google's reputation worldwide.
10. In the long term leaving China as Google has done may actually help it.
    

References:

Google Faces Fallout as China Reacts to Site Shift - NY Times.
Google does the right thing in China -- will Microsoft follow? - Washington Post
Google or China: Who Has More to Lose? Room for Debate - NY Times.

Labels: google

Great analysis!

One Google, One World; One China, No Google

I disagree on one minor part only :-)

Labels: china's future, google

Official Google Blog: A new approach to China: an update

Google reply to China is very subtle and elegant.

Google forwarded Google.cn to Hong Kong, where Google.hk is hosted.

My 2 cents:

1. Google HK is still in China.
2. China has made the statement that their employees in China are not involved.
3. Now the responsibility for blocking is with China's government.
4. Google keeps their word by removing censorship, while not directly going against China's law.
5. Google wants to keep their other operations in China.

Labels: china's future, google

With times of budget cuts in education, I do see school libraries as being important. To teach students that not everything you read on the Internet is true is a major task. The ability to question and analyze, and do research. Internet searches are great tools, but it is a huge challenge to find good information. Wikipedia is a great tool, but there are often inaccuracies, some of them deliberate.

I like this quote:

And to most kids, whatever they read on the Internet is "all good." I've been told, quite emphatically, that the Apollo moonwalk never happened, the Holocaust was a hoax and George W. Bush orchestrated 9/11 -- all based on text, photos or videos found online.

Saving the Google students - LA Times.

Labels: google, libraries

A Chinese graduate student wrote a paper on attacking the US power grid. Why? Because the data was available, where in other countries it is not. The paper created quite a stir and the question was it an over reaction with a bit of paranoia? What type of image is being projected by China to the US? How is China being perceived?

My 2 cents...

I understand the concern in the US, since the Chinese government has built up large and state of the art cyber force and seems to be using it. The hacking of Google, along with 26 other US companies was impressive. But it still has not been proven that Chinese were behind it, may be, some computers in China had been hijacked. And no, I don't want to buy a bridge in brooklyn :-)

The US has a cyber force, but due to legal issues such as liability has not used it against other countries in retaliation to cyber attacks. Due to the legal issues that have not been resolved yet, I don't see the US using their cyber attack abilities yet. I do worry that a lot of computer networks in the US, including power companies, are very vunerable. If Google can get hacked, I don't have faith that a power company is unhackable.

Academic Paper in China Sets Off Alarms in U.S. - NY Times.

Labels: china's future, google, US Chinese Image

It seems before Google made it's announcement that the Chinese government was also beating it up through the state media with false accusations. Probably as a way to indirectly help Google's Chinese competition.

For Chinese people, loss of Google would mean 'nothing but darkness - Washington Post

The question is what will Google continue to operate in China? It seems the search part will stop, but will other services continue?

Labels: china's future, google

It seems that Google.cn for search will end. The challenge for Google has it been doing more good by being in China, and returning search results that when censored, tell the user they have been censored, or not being available and forcing users to around the Golden Wall (inconvenient), or to use a local search engine that censors without telling you. And of course by leaving China, Google may be losing out on the Chinese market that is growing, but with government favoritism for their competitors.

Google '99.9%' certain to pull China search plug - The Register.

Labels: google

Exciting voice translation technology development - Need a translation? Google awaits your call - LA Times

Negative is it only works on Android right now. It would be nice to have it on the iPhone...

Labels: english to chinese translations, google

Mercantilism is where a country deliberately pushes the exports of products from their country while keeping imports to a minimum.

With security breaches the great thing about it is there is 100% deniability. There is always a chance that your country is being framed. And with the 100% deniability, there is no downside to Cyber Merchantism for a country. What is the cost of stealing competitive information (oil reserve information) from a US Oil company that can help your own domestic oil industry on bidding? None, since nobody can prove your country did it.

For any software used in China that uses encryption, the Chinese government requires a company to turn over the keys (access) to them. The US has similar requirements for criminal investigations through court orders. What happened with Skype for example in China, was somebody was monitoring conversations and scanning them for keywords, and then copying them. The challenge is what happens when the Chinese government favors domestic competition over your foreign site?

An example of this in China was initially Google's site for a while was being forwarded to a competitors. So if you typed in Google.cop Baidu would come put. Another example was when Google.cn was shut down due to pornography.

From a software prospective China was going to require that all PC's be installed with software to filter the Internet. Unfortunately it seems the software, Green Dam, had large parts of it copied from a US Software Cybersitter. Currently Cybersitter is suing for $2.2 Billion dollars over this. Since Green Dam has no foreign assets I don't see a cost for them copying the code. Cybersitter is also going after PC Manufacturers who installed the software that have foreign assets such as Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, etc.

What is happening in the hacker attacks is an outside entitity is gaining control of a computer. Making it into a zombie, which then gives them access to the network that computer is on. And specific people are being targeted using a combination of human engineering and zero day flaws. Through E-Mails sent directly to a person using their name and having a subject line that appears real, with a link or attached pdf, that when clicked on gives control of the computer.

And the sophistication of the hacking is amazing with different groups being involved in different areas. One group does the initial penetration, and then another group would search out needed information, and a third group would actually move the information out.

Why would a country do Cyber Merchantism? The simple answer is to give their own industry help. And this applies from raw materials, manufacturing, to the information economy. The goal of China's government is move up the economic value food chain, to advance from being just a place for low cost hub for manufacturing, into a producer and developer of high technology products.

I found this quote interesting:

“The China threat is constant,” says Shawn Carpenter, principal forensics analyst for NetWitness, a cybersecurity company. “If there’s valuable intellectual property out there, there are people in China and elsewhere who want to take it. It’s the new battlefield – low risk and low investment with high gain.”

References:

US oil industry hit by cyberattacks: Was China involved? - Christian Science Monitor

In Digital Combat, U.S. Finds No Easy Deterrent - NY Times.

Google Attack Part of Widespread Spying Effort - IDG

China Issues Sharp Rebuke to U.S. Calls for an Investigation on Google Attacks - NY Times.

China retreats on Internet Filtering SoftwareChina Requires Censoring on New PCs

Labels: china economy, china's future, Chinese Economics, google

Good history of Google's involvement with China - The Google-China Challenge: How It Came to This by JR Raphael, PC World

Labels: china economy, china's future, google

Article from the SF Chronicle suggesting the US Government can file a complaint with the WTO (World Trade Organization) on China's Great Firewall as an unfair trade device.

China's Great Firewall impedes foreign trade - SF Chronicle

Labels: china's future, google

I know everyone must feel that Google Wave's invite is like the gold ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, and it won't hurt if I squeeze in :)

Any kind soul to share their invites with me? It will be greatly appreciated.

Labels: google