Microsoft Corporation will do anything for a dollar. Now I understand that a corporation is a legal entity and not something with a conscious. I say this upfront so as not to offend all of our Libertarian and Conservative friends by sounding too Liberal. But a corporation is managed we can only hope by individuals who do understand the difference between right and wrong. Case in point:
Microsoft has shut down the blog site of a well-known Chinese blogger who uses its MSN online service in China after he discussed a high-profile newspaper strike that broke out here one week ago.
The decision is the latest in a series of measures in which some of America's biggest technology companies have cooperated with the Chinese authorities to censor Web sites and curb dissent or free speech online as they seek access to China's booming Internet marketplace.
I don't know what they are thinking in Redmond, Washington but censorship of the Internet is not only wrong it is nearly impossible. Of course this poor guy has been stopped for now but it is only a matter of time before people like him figure a way around this. The Chinese authorities seem to think they can control the news like they did in the days of Mao. I have news for them: It's not going to work! The news will slip out and the policy of trying to force multi-national corporations to censor descriptions of unpleasant events will eventually be rescinded. Where will this leave Microsoft? With egg on its face once again. Hey guys, have some gumption and tell the Chinese to do their own censoring. Do you really think they are going to ban you from China for not complying with their edicts? That would be like cutting off their noses to spite themselves. This is something the wily Chinese will never do.
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