Google limiting Blogs in local markets,

[Queen K]

Even if those blogs are written to report what local media won't or can't report. Even if local laws are written by theocracies, dictatorships, and murderous thugs disquised behind army uniforms.


Faster than you can say Egypt, Syria, heck, even the USA under their new "laws". Now a citizen can be shut down in their own local market, where it counts. Technically still viewed by outsiders but really, what can outsiders be expected to do when a blogger is reporting shots being fired at civilians or people being picked up in black vans in the middle of the night.

See for yourself how this works. Google enables "per country" blog take downs. What the does that mean? I hate to say this, but now Google is the handmaiden to many many dictatorship governments, imo, just to be able to continue operating within those countries at all. Sure, a guy in Mexico can read what's going on in Georgia, or a someone in Canada can continue to read what 's going on in Syria, but let's be real, where the info counts is in the homeland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16852920


Big Brother, here we are.

[AndrewLamb]

Even if those blogs are written to report what local media won't or can't report. Even if local laws are written by theocracies, dictatorships, and murderous thugs disquised behind army uniforms.


Faster than you can say Egypt, Syria, heck, even the USA under their new "laws". Now a citizen can be shut down in their own local market, where it counts. Technically still viewed by outsiders but really, what can outsiders be expected to do when a blogger is reporting shots being fired at civilians or people being picked up in black vans in the middle of the night.

See for yourself how this works. Google enables "per country" blog take downs. What the does that mean? I hate to say this, but now Google is the handmaiden to many many dictatorship governments, imo, just to be able to continue operating within those countries at all. Sure, a guy in Mexico can read what's going on in Georgia, or a someone in Canada can continue to read what 's going on in Syria, but let's be real, where the info counts is in the homeland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16852920


Big Brother, here we are.

This is only the begining... I don't want to think what the internet will be like 5-10 years from now.

[Nebula]

Blown way out of proportion. I suggest people look into this a bit further before decrying the sky is falling.

Prior to this change, if a jurisdiction requested Google limit access to a certain blog, Google had two choices: ignore the request or deny access to everyone, even in places not affected by whatever law was being upheld. With this change, Google can now block access just to the jurisdiction in question.

Yes, one can take that to mean that Syria could request Google to block all Blogger/Blogspot blogs from being accessed within Syria and Google will comply. I suspect that won't happen.

A good example of how it can be used is that of Germany and its law against Nazi propaganda, which is legal in North America. Germany can now request a Nazi blog be blocked in Germany. Google can comply, keeping the blog accessible to the rest of the world, while not running afoul of German law.

Remember that the flip side is one where Germany (as an example) could block all Blogger/Blogspot blogs from being accessed within that country.

[gambler]

Blown way out of proportion. I suggest people look into this a bit further before decrying the sky is falling.

Prior to this change, if a jurisdiction requested Google limit access to a certain blog, Google had two choices: ignore the request or deny access to everyone, even in places not affected by whatever law was being upheld. With this change, Google can now block access just to the jurisdiction in question.

Correct me if I''m wrong but instead of Google having to block all access, it will be blocked only in the country of origin, but the rest of the world will still get the message. The alternative, like you say, is to block it from the world. If I understand it correctly, it sounds like the right thing to do to me.

[Nebula]

The Germans could request Google block a Nazi blog from the United States from being seen in Germany. That blog would still be viewable from everyone else in the world, including the United States.

[Glacier]

Jian Ghomeshi did a little segment on CBC last night about whether or not Google should filter it's search engine world-wide. The call to do so was not done by a communist, but rather those in academia in the USA.

Proponents argue that Google should filter the searches so that when someone types "vaccines are bad" in the search bar, reputable sites will come up instead of crackpot ones. They gave other examples where "the science is completely settled" like 9/11, intelligent design, and Global Warming. In all these cases, any site that does not adhere to the scientific consensus should not appear in one's search.

I definitely disagree with any such filter, but obviously others see the world differently.

[Nebula]

Just defining 'reputable' would be impossible.

[kompili]

Welcome to the new internet. It's simple. You will only be able to read and watch what they want you to read and watch. Google is even willing to find the best answers (what them and the government thinks you should know) to your questions. You will not even have to do any research. Wow, isn't new technology wonderful? You don't even have think for yourself.

[10Sne1]

Welcome to the new internet. It's simple. You will only be able to read and watch what they want you to read and watch. Google is even willing to find the best answers (what them and the government thinks you should know) to your questions. You will not even have to do any research. Wow, isn't new technology wonderful? You don't even have think for yourself.

Who is "THEY"?

[steven lloyd]

Time to don protective gear ...

[kompili]

Welcome to the new internet. It's simple. You will only be able to read and watch what they want you to read and watch. Google is even willing to find the best answers (what them and the government thinks you should know) to your questions. You will not even have to do any research. Wow, isn't new technology wonderful? You don't even have think for yourself.

Who is "THEY"?

Google is one of them, find out who the owners are, don't be so lazy. You sound like a (mountain man) shut off from the world,with no way to get information. If you can read you might start with the thirteen bloodlines that is always a good start for beginners.

[kompili]

Time to don protective gear ...

Hey lloyd that hat almost makes you look intelligent

[rekabis]

The libertarian in me is very disturbed by this development.

The businessman in me understands that this is perhaps the most reasonable middle ground available.

Google has to be able to operate around the world. Refusing to comply with the government of a country could result in all of Google being blocked by that country. Being able to selectively block specific blogs and such is a “minimum acceptable response” technique that allows Google to comply while doing the absolute minimum to satisfy the government in question.

Keep in mind, however, that this blocking would only be applicable to IP addresses from that country that request that content. If an IP address from another part of the world requests that content, especially from online tools such as anonymizing proxies, there is very little to tell Google that the request actually originated from within the country that banned that content.

Remember, the Internet will always interpret censorship as damage, and route around it. Anonymizing proxies exist to allow people from Country A, who cannot see content meant only for Country B (or content that is banned for Country A), to actually see that content by going through an anonymizing proxy in Country B. Because the proxy anonymizes all communication that goes through it, a website that is being requested cannot know who did the original requesting, because to all intents and purposes it appears that the proxy did the actual requesting.

It is through this method that most people who are concerned with censorship can get around said censorship -- by using a proxy in another country, or by using an anonymizing network such as TOR.