It definitely won't feel like a relief, but here's an article from today's WSJ opinion pages that says Microsoft is not the only western company to ignore the obligations under international law.
Mladen The Electronic Kowtow "Where do you want to go today?" That was the Microsoft's slogan in the mid-1990s, one intended to evoke the unlimited possibilities inherent in the age of the Internet and the software revolution. But the answer to that same questions today would be, "hopefully not where they discuss 'freedom', 'democracy' and 'human rights'," at least not if you expect to do so using Microsoft's new portal in China. The Redmond, Washington software giant has just caved in to the Chinese government, and in a most ignominious way, by banning these words. If you try to type them on Microsoft's new portal, a message appears telling you, according to news reports, that "this item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item." Microsoft's spokesmen in China and Hong Kong did not respond to repeated attempts to reach them, and a Beijing public relations company hired by Microsoft said in answers to questions emailed that, "MSN abides by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates." The ban is in effect in MSN Spaces, a Web site-hosting service created last month that allows consumers to post diaries, or blogs. So in effect the Chinese government, with Microsoft's help, is trying to prevent pro-democracy blogs. To be fair to Microsoft, it is not alone. Yahoo! and Google have also caved in to China. Google, the last previous one to do so, back in October, chose to omit sources the Chinese government does not like from its Google News China edition. The California company said, sensibly enough, that it hardly made sense to provide a link to sites that would probably be blank anyway. But not everyone takes such a rosy view. "It's outrageous," said Human Rights Watch researcher Sara Davis when we reached her. "What's obscene is the degree of censorship that exists in China right now and that international companies are ignoring their obligations under international law," added Ms. Davis, referring to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees everyone the right to free expression. "This is an electronic kowtow." It is admittedly difficult for China's government to block Internet content from its estimated 87 million users, a number that is growing. But it is a lot easier if it has the cooperation of the industry. These large corporations should also remember that China's leaders need their business - the Internet is where demand and supply meet these days, and China's leaders need economic growth to continue if they are not to face large-scale upheaval. Certainly the Microsofts and Googles might try to drive a harder bargain. # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net
