New Reason to Boycott Microsoft!
Micrsoft is definetly not a guardian of free speech, they are a business organization with their only focus on profit! Moreover Micrsoft itself is a company whose products often puzzle the user and an ambition to monopolize the world of computers, it is not difficult to see why the software maker is killing free speech!
The Associated Press reports: "Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues, including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper."
Business Week online commented on the move:
The Associated Press reports: "Microsoft Corp. has shut down the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger that discussed politically sensitive issues, including a recent strike at a Beijing newspaper."
Business Week online commented on the move:
The news that Microsoft shut down a Chinese blogger's site at the request of Beijing officials is bringing a renewed focus on the role U.S. companies play in helping China control the Internet.
posted by Ghormax at 7:22 AM
3 Comments:
It is not only Microsoft. Many American companies censor information and otherwise cooperate with the Chinese Government. Money talks. And China has lots of money. See the New York Times article below.
China, Still Winning Against the Web
yes, that is true. However, the perils are evident. If companies help blocking or releasing private information, they may one day end up on the losing side. Microsoft is already losing billions of dollars in China. They are not going to win the war against piracy. Who guarantees that they will be able to control any of their assets in China? Would it not be better to wait? Maybe a dollar lost now, will be many more dollars earned in the future. But that would make these companies far sighted, which they are not. Especially software makers are interested in the quick profit!
Intellectual piracy would be a problem with or without cooperating with the Chinese Government on these other authoritarian fronts. Of course I agree with you, that these companies should have some ethics and refuse to help a government repress its people. But I don't agree that it is in their own self-interests to do so. Besides businesses often maximize profits today, because the future is so uncertain.
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