Assignment # 2 Google vs. Censorship

Could you imagine not being able to use the internet? I know I couldn't. This soon could be the case in China where Google will be stopping the censorship of their site. China is very unhappy with this idea and its most likely going to lead to Google leaving the market. I think this is the right thing to do on Google's part. When you begin to censor what one can see, you are in a way taking the whole truth away from someone and in my opinion that's wrong. When someone is not able to see the whole truth, distorted views usually occur, which can be a dangerous thing. The internet is one way we all are informed, whether because we look at articles or videos or any type of information from the net, it's our access to knowledge.

In the PCWorld.com article, discussed is how everyday citizens are posting videos to news web sites. Now since everyone has access to the web and the ability to post these videos, the Long Tail comes into play. From my previous blog, you know that the Long Tail has to do with the digital distribution. It's the same as the music situation, videos and search results as long as not censored are available for everyone no matter what your tastes or preferences. There are limitless possibilities as to what you can find on the net. It's this whole limitless possibilities that seems to be the issue with other countries. The internet seems to be throwing a wrench in the fact that other countries can't really control what it is that their citizens are viewing. This of course leads to huge issues around the world between government and its people as well as government and companies such as Google.

By the deliberate act of the government trying to censor these sites it's taking away basically the rights of their people. To me it comes down to the first amendment right and freedom of speech, they're in a sense taking that away from their people. People should be able to express themselves whether the government likes it or not, for the most part we have that right here whereas in some countries they don't like China, where they already are censoring things. There's enough room in this world for everyone's opinion, whether you agree with it or not.

While China may do this already I think it will soon come to an end. They may be able to succeed in the short term of censoring but I dont believe they will in the long-term. There's just too many things out there to get around it and I think if people have the will, they will find ways around being censored. For that matter I feel this is the same for any country not just China, even in the cases of Burma and Iran. I feel even if people were punished they would still fight back for rights they deserve.