Google and China
Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by Geert in Actualiteit, informatie- en communicatietechnologie
Google is in a conflict with China. Although it is unclear what the solution will be, China has more to lose than Google in this conflict. At first glance, the declarations of Google are very hard, and could result in a withdrawal of Google.cn But that would be difficult for the Chinese leadership, and degrade the image of a modern, quickly evolving, and high-tech oriented economy. On the other hand, it is impossible for Google to accept increasing censorship and cyber attacks, without losing its image of “No Evil”.
The financial newspaper De Tijd says that Google would miss 600 million euros revenue when leaving China.
Als Google zich uit China terugtrekt, dan verliest het volgens ramingen 600 miljoen dollar inkomsten per jaar . Google telt in China ongeveer 338 miljoen gebruikers. Als Google zich terugtrekt, is dat goed nieuws voor de Chinese concurrent Baidu dat zijn marktleiderschap (60%) op de grootste internetmarkt ter wereld kan uitbreiden. Het marktaandeel van Google wordt geraamd op 30 procent. Google zette zijn eerste stappen op de Chinese markt vier jaar geleden.
The attacks that Google experienced, appear to have been very serious. Google writes in a statement (my emphasis):
In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident–albeit a significant one–was something quite different.
First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses – including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors – have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.
Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.
Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.
On the Chinese side, spokesmen have declared not to see the problem with www.google.cn. (source: New York Times)
Wenqi Gao, a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in New York, said he did not see any problems with google.cn. “I want to reaffirm that China is committed to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign companies in our country,” he said in a phone interview.
In China, search requests that include words like “Tiananmen Square massacre” or “Dalai Lama” come up blank. In recent months, the government has also blocked YouTube, Google’s video-sharing service.
The Google conflict will be an interesting case. China has taken the road of selective capitalism. This is bound to raise problems, because capitalism will come with side effects that are unwanted by the Chinese leadership:
- capitalism without a free tradeable currency
- capitalism without transparent corporate account
- …without a clear distinction between the state and corporate sectors
- …without extensive social protection and western working conditions
- …without modern governance, social responsibility or a sustainable strategy
This will continue to raise tensions on social, environmental and economic issues. As log as China grows, the drawbacks of its system will be forgiven. But in the mean time, Chinese people get access to information, western products and way of life. The gap between the leadership and its population will continue to grow, and severely tested when the economy slows down one day.
The tensions with Google are symptomatic of this selective acceptance of the capitalistic system, and selective introduction of free trade, free entrepreneurship and free information. This will bring frequent conflicts, like the Google one, and probably pragmatic solutions to continue Chinese selective capitalism. But in the end, when is unclear, it will bring a call for a new regime, called democracy.
Nick De Roeck
13. Jan, 2010
China is een totalitair regime, een feit dat velen in het Westen trachten te ‘verneinen’.
Ben nog niet zo zeker van een democratische tendens in China – als Google het daar afbolt kan dat daar gerust verkocht worden als een ‘kaakslag tegen het Chinese volk’. Nationalisme niet onderschatten, we hebben er hier ook regelmatig van.
Een clash met China is m.i. onvermijdelijk.
Nick Doms
13. Jan, 2010
I wonder whether Baidu was targeted as well and what their corporate reaction/statement was, if any?
Geert
13. Jan, 2010
Nick, I do not know Baidu that well, but from what I read, Baidu gets wamer vibes from the Chinese authorities than Google.
Baidu also has a self-censored Chinese Wikipedia.
It is Nasdaq-quoted, but I do not have the slightest notion of their shareholdership and links with China.
Theo
13. Jan, 2010
Yes, President Obama set up the stage for this confrontation between no1 and no2 back in November during his visit to China – the emphasis of his speech was the internet.
There are just a couple of details which bugs me about the entire incident:
* David Drummond, Google’s Chief Legal Officer declared in an interview with Bloomberg this morning in Asia that the “attack” started with malware sent through Gmails in December…
Back in November I was victim of one such attack but through my Hotmail rather than my Gmail, and I have a very very very sophisticated software protecting my computer (I don’t even receive spam or anything popping up out of nowhere)
* I don’t understand how if as Google claims the attack took place in December and Google is NOW threatening with pulling out of China and closing its office there IF the Chinese don’t do what they want… then how come Google (and Yahoo!) has been hiring thousands of employees in Singapore for the past 2 months!?
Strange… very strange indeed.
Oh and just for the record – I don’t care what deTijd says, but Google doesn’t have 338 million users in China! and it has never had 30% market share there
As of end of June 2009, China had a total of 338 million internet users according to China Internet Network Information Center. Perhaps that’s where deTijd got a bit lost in translation again
Nick Doms
13. Jan, 2010
Baidu dominates the Chinese market with 77% in search engine users.
Google has about 17% marketshare.
The wikipedia version in China is a subsidiary of Baidu called Baidu Baike.
It is not surprising that Baidu expands their reach beyond China. They wish to become the Asia Google and well further than that with an eye towards eastern europe.
Around the same time that Google was targeted, i also found that Baidu experienced the same late 2009. It is rumored (not confirmed) that the breach occurred while changing client files through Register.com
A story with a tail?
Theo
13. Jan, 2010
@ Nick Doms
What’s Register.com?
According to BBC Baidu was attacked by Iranian hackers… and then Chinese hackers went and hacked them back
the funny thing is that when they talk about hackers, those are actually some teenage geeks
It’s nuts!
Nick Doms
13. Jan, 2010
Register.com is a website hosting and registration company among many other things.
They also store data in remote servers for third party companies and provide back-up and self restoration of data through various routers.
The story is that “Iranian hackers” (which may very well be) got their data access through the back-up servers and not directly through the Baidu mainframe.
That is the latest i found.
Like i said this story will get a tail or maybe a tale…
Theo
14. Jan, 2010
@ Nick Doms
Thanks. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of how my Hotmail was hacked…
I know that it was through another site, so this could very well be it!
“Iranian hackers” , I know… They must have taken some time off their Green Twitting.
Yeah this already has a tail… and the head is full with Android Software and other free Apps.
I mean if you want to take a stance on Freedom and Free Speech, what are you doing moving to Singapore??? Because it’s known for its thriving democracy, multi party politics and free speech!!!
Give me a break.
Theo
13. Jan, 2010
Baidu takes its role as gatekeeper very proactively!
It was only yesterday that Google had to apologize for posting Chinese books on its site without authorization.
Meanwhile Baidu’s site was attacked by hackers (BBC) and taken out for several hours.
Microsoft meanwhile reported they have not experienced any attacks (Hello, Bill Gates & Co.! I’ve got your reply from when my Hotmail was attacked back in November)
There is another bunch of 10 or so search engines in China, but I don’t know too much about them.
As luck would have it, my University in Australia just completed its switch of the entire email system to Google. Senior Management at Google Down Under and plenty of staff are former MBA colleagues of mine…
It was University staff which has been the hardest to convince about switching to Gmail, not because it falls under Chinese government censorship and control, but rather because of the access and control USA Government has over gmail security and content…
http://ow.ly/VicA
Weird, very weird. Back in the days we had Star Wars, now it’s more like Cyberspace Wars. We’ve evolved I guess… sort of!
Thorn
14. Jan, 2010
Apparently, Google has already lifted the censorship of their Chinese search enine(as they had threatened to).
These URLs seem to return genuine results now: http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=Dalai+Lama&btnG=Google+搜索&aq=f&oq=
http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&source=hp&q=Tiananmen+Square+massacre&btnG=Google+搜索&aq=f&oq=
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Emeline (Viviane)
20. Jan, 2010
Interessant e-column van Dominique Deckmijn ( manager van De Standaard Online) in”Standaard.biz” van 20 januari 2010 onder de titel: “Google tegen Chinese censuur”.
Subtitel: “Google heeft geconstateerd dat een Amerikaans bedrijf in China eigenlijk geen zaken kan doen”.
Dit laatste: stof tot nadenken!