Google Asks US For WTO Block On China Censorship

An anonymous reader writes "Google is asking the US government to petition the World Trade Organization to recognize China's censorship as an unfair barrier to trade. The US Trade Representative is reviewing their petition to see if they can prove that China's rules discriminate against foreign competition. At least it's something worthwhile for the US Trade Reps to do, rather than secretly negotiating ACTA."

Re:Google V China

[elrous0]

Don't be. The only reason they are doing this is because China directly threatened their bottom line by trying to steal [wired.com] some of Google's proprietary source code (their bread and butter). Before China did that, Google was more than happy to censor their search results and hand over dissidents just like everyone else. Google isn't taking on China to protect innocents, they're doing it to send a message to China that if you hit Google's money train, they will hit back.

Re:Google V China

[infaustus]

Because contrary to popular opinion, China is not an insect colony with a hive mind. It is our obligation to protect the freedom of individuals wherever they happen to be located.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Google V China

[Anonymous Coward]

The motto is "Don't be evil" not "Do no evil". It's impossible to do no evil in a world with so much subjectivity.

Where's the trade barriers

[hackingbear]

If I understand it right, a country raises a trade barrier if its rules discriminate against foreign imports. Say, if the rule says imported cars need to emit 25% less CO2 than domestic ones, then it is a trade barrier no matter how much you love the environment. but in these cases, both foreign and domestic have to obey the same censorships (or banning of gambling,) they are fair as long as trades are concern. google may make other trade barrier claim like if the state does not grant them video content licenses even if they agree to obey the same censoring rules.