Ethics and IT G10011

8/6/2019 Ethics and IT G10011

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in China

Anupam Aloke (G10011)

Tarun Pandey (G10056)

Mohd. Junaid (G10029)

Abhisek (G10002)

Santosh Kumar Singh (G10047)

Hussain H. Rassiwalla (G10020)

Prashant Sharma (G10038)


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Google: Dont be Evilor Dont be Good


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Founded by Larry Page & Sergei Brin

In 2005, Google had a positive cash flowof $3.45 billionand starting in 2006, was generating more than $1 billionin cash every quarter.

Google had revenue of $6.14 billion and a net profit marginof 25.18%.

In April 2004, Brin & Page wrote a founders' letter includedin documents for Google's IPO:

Don't be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, wewill be better served as shareholders and in all otherways by a company that does good things for the worldeven if we forego some short-term gains. This is an

important aspect of our culture and is broadly sharedwithin the company.


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Don't Be Evil!!

Adopted the informal corporate mottoofDon't be Evilfrom founders' letter.

Developed an ethical code of conduct for both internal andexternal audiences.

Google's focuson the user guided most of its decision:

From its inception, Google has focussed on providing thebest user experience possible. While many companiesclaim to put their customers first, few are able to resist

temptation to make small sacrifices to increaseshareholder value. Google has steadfastly refused tomake any change that does not offer a benefit to the userswho come to the site.

The above principle was best examplified in Google'srefusal to accept sponsored search results.


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Internet and China With a population of 1.6 billion (2006), an attractive market

for many US companies

Vast and uncensored information endemic to Internet arenot welcome.

Believed to have world's most sophisticated network formonitoring and limiting information online.

Two pronged approach to censoring the Internet:

Restrict the production, development and dissemination

of improper content. Monitor the per usal of content or receipt of inf ormation.

Harmful content included material concerningdemocracy (freedom), religious cults (e.g. FalunGong), or antigovernment protest (e.g. TiananmenSquare).


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Internet Controls in China

Technology: positioning routers at the edge of domesticinternet

Government Law Enforcement: 30000 internet police

Corporations: Self-censorship of cybercafes

Propaganda: Newsstories about imprisoned journalists

Individuals: Online reporting centers encouraged citizensto report 'harmful' information.

Vagueyet SpecificApproaches: Seemingly omniscientpresence; definition of harmful material changed weekly.


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Say Hello toThe Dragon!

Entered Chinese market in early 2000 bycreating a Chinese-language ver sion of itshomepage.

Google.com housed in US handling searchrequests originating in China.

Technology not subject to Chinese censorship

laws as physical location was in US. Did not need a license from Chinese Govt. to

operate its business.


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AccessDenied!!!!!

Search request and results passed thr ough one of nineChinese international gateway ISPs, which were monitoredand filtered by Chinese Govt.

Users able to see complete list of all inf ormation pertainingto search results, including inf ormation Chinese Govt,considered threatening such as massacre at TiananmenSqare in 1989.

In Sep 2002, Google.com was inaccessible for two weeks.

When reinstated, slow and temperamental for Chineseusers, completely inaccesible foruniversities and students.

The average time to download a Google web page wasmore than seven times slower than for Baidu, the leading

Chinese search engine. - Elliot Schrage, Vice


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Inside The Great Firewall

In Jan 2006, Google announced creation of Google.cn,which was located in China and subject to Chinesefiltering.

Faster, Reliable and Provided more and bettersearchresults for all but a handful of politically sensitive subjects.

Google differentiated this product from its competitors by:

Keeping personal information outside China throughGmail and Blogger to protect itsusers' privacy andconfidentiality.

Disclosing the general filtering to itsusers

Continuing Chinese-language version of Google.com


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Toeing the Dragon With Google.cn, the company excluded material and links from

sources the government deemed subversive or harmful in orderto comply with local Chinese laws and regulations.

Google saw its decision as a balance between the need of itsChinese users tosee more and more content and features and

the demandsof Chinese Govt. to curtail access and filtercontent.

Elliot Schrage, VP, Google, acknowledged the Don't be Evilprinciple forwhich Google wassowell known:

[Don't be Evil] is an admonition that reminds us to consider themoral and ethical implications of every single business decisionwe make... We believe our current approach to China isconsistent with this mantra.


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Google Search ResultsForTiananmen Square: UK vs China


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Backlash

Instead of using their power and creativity tobring openness and free speech to China, theyhave caved in to Beijing's outrageous but

predictable demands, simply for sake of profit...They enthusiastically volunteered for theChinese censorship brigade. - Tom Lantos (D-CA)

"This is very bad news for the internet in China.Google were the only ones who held out. So theChinese government had to block informationthemselves. But now Google will do it for them.

They have two standards. One for the US,


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Questions to Ponder Upon

Was Google endorsing censorship byconforming to the Chinese authorities' rules?

Was Google acting as a tool for the

government?

Were Chinese citizens betteroff after Google'sdecision to enter China with Google.cn?


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References

Case BRI-2004, Google Inc. In China KirstenE. Martin

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/jan/

25/news.citynews

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/26/google-search-results-for_n_371526.html


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Thank You

Ethics and IT G10011

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