Great Days In American Censorship

Infrequent contributor Cosmo, who can write an email to me, but apparently can't post this story even though it takes the same amount of keystrokes, notes:

"Really enjoying the article on google in the nyt. especially these proud moments in our involvement with China's love affair with the internet:"

Google's timing could not have been worse. Google.cn was introduced into a political environment that was rapidly souring for American high-tech firms in China. Last September, Reporters Without Borders revealed that in 2004, Yahoo handed over an e-mail user's personal information to the Chinese government. The user, a business journalist named Shi Tao, had used his Chinese Yahoo account to leak details of a government document on press restrictions to a pro-democracy Web site run by Chinese exiles in New York. The government sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Then in December, Microsoft obeyed a government request to delete the writings of Zhao Jing — the free-speech blogger I'd met with in the fall. What was most remarkable about this was that Microsoft's blogging service has no servers located in China; the company effectively allowed China's censors to reach across the ocean and erase data stored on American territory."

This has actually been a major bugaboo on the right side of the blogosphere in recent weeks. Of course, yesterday our President apologized to the Chinese premier for having to hear from a protestor.

Great days indeed.

Google deserves criticism but nobody's putting any kind of international pressure on China to comply and reform either.

UPDATE: Cosmo adds: "sorry you had to see that democracy mr. prezidente. i thought i got rid of it. i got capitols and i'm using 'em! i think i got all fifty. do you have black people in china town too?"