It's sad to see corporations persue $$ for any reason. Microsoft, Google, Cisco Systems, and Yahoo have been helping the communist government of China abuse human rights. "We're only following the laws of the country we operate in," whine the mealy-mouthed capitalists. They have willingly shut down Web sites and censored words like "democracy," "freedom," and "human rights."
Try this lame excuse from Google for blocking specific news sites from the Internet in China: "Some sources were not included because their sites are inaccessible and therefore their inclusion does not provide a good experience for our news users who are looking for information." (As I've asked Google before: define evil.)
Fine then, says the US Congress, according to Anne Broache and Declan McCullagh of CNET. If you operate in the USA, then we'll make it illegal to abuse the freedom of the Internet in servitude to dictatorships.
Both Republicans and Democrats are working on figuring out how to implement this openess policy. Reporters Without Borders, for example, suggests a law banning companies from hosting e-mail servers in repressive countries. Curiously enough, CNET's editors found it necessary to place scare quotes around "repressive."
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