From: EETimes

In the wake of the latest threat by the Chinese government, Google Inc.'s only choice is to pack up and exit the Chinese market, wholesale.

It would be difficult for any company to turn its back on the nation that houses more potential users of its product than any other. But this is precisely what Google must do, now that the Mountain View, Calif., company has thrown down the gauntlet and been publicly rebuked.

On Friday (March 12), Li Yizhong, China's minister of industry and information technology responded to Google's Jan. 12 announcement that it intended to stop censoring search results in China, saying, as reported by The Wall Street Journal and others, "If you insist on taking this action that violates Chinese laws, I repeat: You are unfriendly and irresponsible, and you yourself will have to bear the consequences."

So be it. Mr. Yizhong and other leaders will simply have to continue to "bear the consequences" of running a society that denies citizens access to information.

Late Friday, the Financial Times reported that Google is 99.9 percent sure to go ahead with plans to withdraw from China after negotiations over censorship reached an impasse.

Bravo. Let's make that an even 100 percent.

China is the country with the more Internet users than any other, an estimated 400 million. By some estimates, that number will exceed 800 million by 2013. Google understandably wants that user base, but at what cost?

Google doesn't make tractors. The company's primary business is providing people with access to information—and it does this better than anyone else. Performing this service well while at the same time submitting to censorship is not possible. Due to the nature of its business, and its influence, Google has a special responsibility to avoid markets where the information it provides users is subject to restrictions established by a repressive government.

Recall that Google is bound by its famous motto,"Don't be evil." Some argue that Google failed to live up to that standard when it struck the Faustian bargain to adhere to restrictions on content searches upon establishing Google.cn in 2005. Maybe so. But at this point, given China's stance, there is no longer any room for argument. For Google to tuck its tail between its legs and continue to abide by Chinese government censorship policies could not be construed as anything but evil.

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爱滚到哪里，就滚哪里去！

实话实说，Google的产品确实非常好用，GMail，Calendar， Scholar等等，我都一直在用着。而且，目前为止，简直不敢想象离开Google我们的有些工作该怎么办。然后，对我来说，并非有奶便是娘。此次风波之前，Google一直是令我等尊敬的，无论是这一堆激动人心的高技术工具，还是其所宣称的“不作恶”的道义。我个人的观点是，你Google反对所谓的过滤制度，我也是举双手赞成的；但是你抬出了human rights的大棒来抢占所谓道德制高点，就让人觉得恶心了。作为一个纯粹的商业公司，你有你自己的自由，你如果想在这里继续赚钱，那你就一边对抗一边数钱呗；你如果不在乎这点收入，大可卷铺盖走人，who care？道德斗士的嘴脸下面，是一副肮脏、虚伪的面孔。

不过呢，Google的产品我还是会继续用的。我每时每刻也在帮着Google赚钱，凭啥不用呢？

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春天在哪里啊？从去年11月1日第一场大雪，到现在已经整整四个半月过去了。However，今天的北京，大雪继续飘扬着。这种阴沉沉的天气里，让一切都了无生气。