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Google Enumerates Government Requests
D H NG writes "In the aftermath of Google's exit from mainland China, it had sought to be more open about what it censors. Google has launched a new tool to track the number of government requests targeted at Google and YouTube. These include both requests for data and requests to take down data. A quick look at the tool shows that Brazil is the top country in both categories (largely because Orkut is popular there), and information for China cannot be disclosed because 'Chinese officials consider censorship demands as state secrets.' As part of its four-part plan, Google hopes to change the behavior of repressive governments, establish guiding principles for dealing with issues of free expression, build support online to protest repression, and better provide resources and support for developing technology designed to combat and circumvent Internet censorship."
Queue the people explaining how this is evil because its "not enough".
So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
So if Google's already shown if a state considers that information a state secret they'll recind publishing it, who wants to bet there will be a bill in Congress by tomorrow classifying it in the states too?
This
Now I have something else to distinguish myself from our brothers to the south besides a ridiculous accent and a distinct smell of maple syrup!
So why can't Google tell China to go pound sand and post them anyway? They can always blame it on some anonymous hacker, say the data was found in a bar, or just slip it to Wiki Leaks.
"I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist! There's a difference." - Dr. Cockroach
What they DON'T show -- and I've sent feedback asking for -- is how many of these are legal demands, such as warrants or court orders, versus informal requests.
For anyone else interested in requesting the same info, here is the link: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/request.py?contact_type=privacy&ctx=contactpolicy
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
I don't think Orwell saw that one coming...
One that hath name thou can not otter
google could have so easily gone the traditional "sacrifice all your values for the pursuit of money route", but they actually showed they have principles and a backbone
google, you've earned my loyalty and respect. integrity: what a rare and wonderful concept
as for china considering censorship requests to be state secrets: well of course it does. just like the church of scientology considers its sacred texts to be intellectual property. i mean, if you're going to be a controlling asshole, at least be true to the concept to the inevitable extreme of absurdity, right?
wikileaks: get that list of censorship requests. google, give that list up: you've already burned your bridges
oh, and btw: fuck you censorial controlling assholes. you are clearly on the losing side of history. i look forward to your inevitable demise
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
"I guess we can't have a completely free internet (Google self censors);
You're free to post anything you want on your site, within the laws of your country. Move to the right country and you're totally free to post anything.
Google is also free to -not- post things to their site that they don't want to.
Sounds like it's 'completely free' to me.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
If you are in a minority that believes Child Porn is OK and Hate speech is OK...
I don't believe those things are OK, but I do know that censorship is much worse. Find another way to deal with the problem..
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
One day, possibly not long from now, we're going to see China freed from the dictatorial, self-serving government Mao imposed on it.
That's going to be a pretty good day.
A quick look at the tool shows that Brazil is the top country in both categories (largely because Orkut is popular there)
The reason Brazil is the top country is not only due to Orkut's popularity, but because many Brazilian laws were designed to limit freedom of speech and free enterprise. Anyone remember this?
A significant part of these government requests is probably tied to lawsuits involving Adwords. In the past, companies have been sued and found guilty for using their competitors' names as keywords in Adwords, for example. This practice is perfectly legal in most countries, including the US.
I wonder if Google can make this popular enough to pressure countries into changing their laws.
Without China, other governments will get the same idea, and the tool becomes completely useless. C'mon Google, grow some balls.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
As a Brazilian, I'm glad this exposes a situation which isn't usually discussed but should be given more attention now that Brazil is trying to gain additional worldwide relevance (through G20 and all that).
Brazilian courts have been extremely unreasonable and have forced Google to hand over private information and take down pages without much fanfare. Even though none of the data is actually hosted in Brazil, the courts have fined and threatened to fine Google several times because of this.
In Brazil, service providers have liability for their users actions and there are laws protecting the "private image" of individuals (even celebrities). In effect, paparazzi can be sued around here. Journalists can be sued and bloggers aren't considered journalists. Writing a story denouncing a politician can get you a lawsuit.
All this mess accounts for a lot of these requests. Google isn't being evil, but I wish there was more international pressure against the Brazilian government.