聽說, Google要考慮退出中國?! 這是Google的法務長 大衛-多姆德 (David Drummond)於1月12日, 在Google官方部落格上的文章. 我認為這是一件對於中國與自由世界的水溫測試.

[ Google Official BLOG, David Drummond's Article: A New Approach to China. ]

Google中國新策略(New Approach to China): 就是認清真實, 面對退出?

大衛在Google Official BLOG上說的幾項重點, 我簡單翻譯如下:

(1) Google偵測到來自中國的網路的攻擊.
(2) 有許多外國公司都面臨類似的網路的攻擊.
(3) 攻擊者主要目標是中國人權活動人士Gmail 賬戶.
(4) Google公開分享這些資訊的原因是: 此問題指向更重大的言論自由議題.
(5) Google對於以往在中國面臨的網路審核度是不滿的.
(6) 如果Google無法使中國人增加自由取得資訊, Google將重新考慮中國新策略.
(7) 因為這些攻擊行為, Google將審視在中國執行業務的可能性.
(8) Google決定不再對Google.cn作審查, 並且與中國政府討論如何運作不加審查的搜尋結果.
(9) 可能必須要關閉Google.cn以及中國辦公室.

支持言論自由, 人們要為自己的行為負責

成熟的人要擁有言論自由, 更要為自己的行為負責. 我相信Gooel準備要負責了, 所以選擇一條難走的路.

智者說: 簡單卻可能錯的路, 或是困難而正確的路.

我認為中國應該不會妥協, Google也有本錢放棄中國市場. 這簡直是一場真實與虛擬的巨人大戰, 應該是不會有交集的. 最後, 只是可憐了中國網民, 少了一個與世界連絡的窗. 我知道, 過去的中國盛世就是這樣倒下的, 中國領導人焉可不慎哉?!

大衛的原文

我把David Drummond的BLOG原文COPY如下: A New Approach to China.

幾段重要的說明:

… In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident–albeit a significant one–was something quite different.

…, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

… We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. …

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that "we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China."
…
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
…
Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer