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January 27, 2006
I'm with Bill
I'm with Bill: I put fnords in bold: "Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, took the rare step of standing up for arch-rival Google today as he argued that state censorship was no reason for technology companies not to do business in China. The richest man in the world told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he thought the internet 'is contributing to Chinese political engagement' as 'access to the outside world is preventing more censorship'." I also think that a greater range of technical options for individuals tends to be a good thing overall, and I'm also aware that there are signficant business interests in play were Google to be pressured out of that arena. If a "human rights group" wanted to expand blogging or search options in a top-down society then I'd be willing to back that effort (assuming suitable financial transparency), but I'm not sure about working to remove less-than-perfect implementations that others may attempt. One other Gates quote from this reporter: "Software piracy is a problem that will likely be solved over time, because as Chinese-made technology evolves, the country's respect for intellectual property rights will improve, he added. 'We are always upset that they aren't paying us for our products, but we're not going to pick up and go home,' Mr Gates said." Even typewriter registration didn't hold back inevitable change....
Posted by John Dowdell at January 27, 2006 3:39 PM