Google blatantly trolling China? http://www.google.cn/

[woah]

http://www.google.cn/

 

Try to make a search in the search box ...

 

I'm dying over here.

 

If it's changed soon, check this slashdot post: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1702180&cid=32730434

 

The article is a little confusing on how they're going to change their strategy. The Official Blog [blogspot.com] has that info:

 

We have therefore been looking at possible alternatives, and instead of automatically redirecting all our users, we have started taking a small percentage of them to a landing page on Google.cn [google.cn] that links to Google.com.hk [google.com.hk]—where users can conduct web search or continue to use Google.cn services like music and text translate, which we can provide locally without filtering. This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on Google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page.

 

Over the next few days we’ll end the redirect entirely, taking all our Chinese users to our new landing page—and today we re-submitted our ICP license renewal application based on this approach.

 

It's kind of funny, the "landing page" is a false image of a search box [google.cn] and when you click anywhere on the page, you go to Google Hong Kong [google.com.hk]. How this is okay as opposed to a redirect, I'll never know ... and once that page starts eventually taking users to unfiltered results of Tiananmen Square, I think the Chinese Government will take a few more steps to stop it.

 

Of course it looks like ibtimes has a policy that only allows them to link to more ibtimes sites instead of -- you know -- the original source of all their quotes.

Edited June 29, 2010 by woah

[demagogue]

Took me a second to get what was happening (I didn't read the article at first). I clicked it, saw it apparently either reloading or getting redirected to the same page, and then could search fine. It was only then I looked at the address bar and noticed it was now .hk, lol. Aha ... yep pretty blatant gag. I'd say it's fair game from our perspective. But then China claims it's special because apparently its people can't handle unfiltered information, much less full-blown democracy, or something... I don't know. The appeal of totalitarian government and restrictions like this have never made any sense to me.

[Sotha]

The appeal of totalitarian government and restrictions like this have never made any sense to me.

 

Heh.. I suppose the ruling party is the only faction that has the appeal for totalitarian goverment, for obvious reasons. The ordinary citizens have to obey because it guarantees their survival.

 

Have a nice day citizen! Or else!

[Tels]

Took me a second to get what was happening (I didn't read the article at first). I clicked it, saw it apparently either reloading or getting redirected to the same page, and then could search fine. It was only then I looked at the address bar and noticed it was now .hk, lol. Aha ... yep pretty blatant gag. I'd say it's fair game from our perspective. But then China claims it's special because apparently its people can't handle unfiltered information, much less full-blown democracy, or something... I don't know. The appeal of totalitarian government and restrictions like this have never made any sense to me.

 

Don't look that far to China, you can see the same nonsense in f.i. Germany.

 

Some idiots^H^H^H^H^H^Hlawyers/judges think that you "consent (make your own)" content if you merely link to it. That means that of course people become afraid to link to things (because cease&desist notes in Germany can cost you high amounts of money and time even if what you did is totally harmless like linking to another site (which may, may not, have or had a "problem" like mentioning a trade-marked word or whatever the newest IP craze is) - but links are one of the corner stones of HTML... A popular example is heise.de forums, where links are not allowed unless they lead to heise.de.

 

Of course, writing the link as text, and then having either the user manually, or the browser (via plugnwhatever) automatically making the "link" a http://link is ok... water is sometimes wet and sometimes not, depending on wether we like it or not.. GAH...

 

The google redirection is of the same quality. It is technically not a redirection, but it redirects. Props for google for finding the hole in the system, but shame on the **** in China that think they can "control" the net that way.

[Sotha]

Don't look that far to China, you can see the same nonsense in f.i. Germany.

 

Some idiots^H^H^H^H^H^Hlawyers/judges think that you "consent (make your own)" content if you merely link to it.

 

Whoa! This is what happens when idiots make decisions on topics they do not understand at all. Awful.

 

Theory:

one might expect that since the internet is a very dendritic system, almost every page is linked to each other through some route. Does it not then mean that if you put one link and thus consent to the content behind that page and then consent all the links behind that one. Ultimately you're consenting to all the possible pages in a dendritic matrix of zillion web pages?

 

Well, it is a good way for lawyers and judges to keep themselves and their buddies employed and amass nice amount of wealth.

 

But really, maybe some sort of civil insubordination case to oppose madness like this should be in order?

[jdude]

Google should just pull out of there. I would be scared out of my mind to be the CEO or high ranking member of Google and to be butting heads with the Chinese government.

[aidakeeley]

full-blown democracy

 

Ooooh! Neato! Where's that?

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2010 by aidakeeley

[demagogue]

I used "full-blown" just to filter out countries that call themselves democratic, maybe even have (sham) elections, but it's just a facade and there's nothing democratic about them. I didn't mean to imply that there are any perfectly democratic systems out there. I don't think that's possible or preferable. Nobody's perfect; an important starting point to any political theory.

[aidakeeley]

countries that call themselves democratic, maybe even have (sham) election

 

Like the USA.

[Mortem Desino]

Like the USA.

Olé!

[ungoliant]

true that. I refuse to vote on anything in protest to the system, just on principle. Never registered to vote in my life (of the 9 available years). People tell me that I don't have a right to bitch about anything if I don't vote, makes me want to slap them.

[aidakeeley]

The smartest people are actually the ones who don't vote. They know goddamed well this ain't no, no how, no way democracy.

 

Look what they went through in SA to get "democracy" (the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie). And now, so quickly, most of those people have figured it out too. The levels there are as everywhere under the DoB... ~50%.

 

It's a fucking show and a sham.