Complicit in china's censorship
Not complacent
\spelling nazi
Lovable, huggable ex-monopolist Bill Gates has more often than not found himself batting for China in a recent publicity drive as head of the Gates Foundation. On his way to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the Microsoft-chief-turned philanthropist appears unmoved over China's position on internet censorship after …
There's Godwin's Law:
"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches."
- Which, if we read the article properly, Gates did not transgress - in fact quite the opposite.
And there's Sodwin's Law:
"In any discussion of actual or emerging totalitarianism, we will quote Godwin's Law. That way we can flow with the tide and still feel good about ourselves."
You pays yer money....
... but Bill's right when he says:
"“And so you have got to decide, do you want to obey the laws of the countries you are in or not. If not, you may not end up doing business there,” Gates said."
Sovereign law is sovereign law, regardless ... If you want to sell your peaches, apples, jalapenos or squash at my road-side fruit/veggie stand, they better stand up to my standards! If they don't, forget about it, I don't sell crap under signage that includes my name. I don't want your take on produce to reflect on my personal aesthetic in the minds of my consumers.
Now expand the above to include nation-sized trade ...
“And so you have got to decide, do you want to obey the laws of the countries you are in or not. If not, you may not end up doing business there,”
Sheesh! If any of Microsoft's competitors find such views surprising then it is little wonder that Bill managed to run rings around them when he was in charge. He's clearly got two brain cells to knock together and that's clearly two more than they have. (On the moral point, notice that he didn't say you have to obey those laws. He made it quite clear that you have the option of staying away.)
Can we have a bear in the woods icon? Oh, hang on, this one's probably more attractive.
The software might not have originated in China, the hack itself might not have originated in China but who, other than the Chinese, would be concerned enough about human rights activists in China to want to hack into their accounts?
Fwiw, Microsoft et al. are "complicit" in, not "complacent" in Chinese censorship.
They opened their services in china by censoring... and now some people don't support them when they threaten to pull out.
Funny.
But yes I do agree with Bill on this one, if you want to do business you better follow the rules and accept the fact your servers will be hacked by the chinese government (directly or indirectly) whenever they like.
If you are happy with that, go forward and prosper.
So if MS were to take up the slack and they get hacked and got their source code stolen then they better not say a word ^^.
But I very much doubt google will pull out, they will just have to fire all their chinese employees and up their security.
"So if MS were to take up the slack and they get hacked and got their source code stolen then they better not say a word ^^."
I think you'll find the Chinese have access to most of Microsoft's source code already, through various deals offered quite voluntarily by MS themselves.
“And so you have got to decide, do you want to obey the laws of the countries you are in or not. If not, you may not end up doing business there,” Gates said.
So if for example lawmakers in a country don't care much about software piracy, and really cannot be bothered to write laws that should make piracy illegal, then that is ok too? Or ... oh ... eh ... no ... that is different, perhaps?
But since when is Gates an expert on morals and ethics? I mean, everyone is entitled to his opinion but now it seems the former boss of the former Most Evil Empire of the world disagrees with the morality of the present boss of the present Most Evil Empire of the world.
Don't expect Pope Benedict XVI to make a statement any time soon about human rights repression in China - after all, the Gates Foundation donated $1 million to Catholic Relief Services, and that's enough to look the other way, isn't it?
"... but Bill's right when he says:
"And so you have got to decide, do you want to obey the laws of the countries you are in or not. If not, you may not end up doing business there,” Gates said."
No, Jake, he's NOT right because he SUPPORTS China.
But then what do you expect from one of the heads of a Foundation that has supported China in its 'one child' policy. How would YOU feel if your parents weren't allowed to let you have a brother or sister, or if you weren't allowed to have more than one child. Is it OK to murder girl children?
Like his father before him, Gates is a eugenicist; just like a little man with an unusual moustache who likewise wanted to dominate the world for at least a thousand years.