Chinese students and Google

Good morning!

I saw this article from the Wall Street Journal that was very interesting because of the implications for Chinese students and consumers to check out American businesses.  enjoy!  matt (marketmpb)

(source: wsj.com)

BEIJING—Google Inc. said Friday the Chinese government renewed a license it needed to continue using its Chinese Web address, marking a compromise between the company and Chinese regulators since Google decided to stop cooperating with censorship requirements.

The company updated a blog post by its Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, saying it is "very pleased that the government has renewed" its Internet Content Provider license, and "we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China."

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• Earlier: Google Expects License Renewal
• Topics: Google in China

The Ministry of Industry and Information Industry spokesman declined to comment, but said he expects a notice related to Google's status to be posted on the ministry's website soon.

Google users and advertisers in China, which has the most Internet users in the world, were concerned that the website would become inaccessible since the company announced in January that it was no longer willing to comply with China's self-censorship rules because of the government's tightening limits on free speech, and because of a series of cyberattacks that Google said originated in China.

The company's content license was a key concern because Google needs it in order to use its Chinese Web address, which is overseen by authorities. If its rights to use the Web address are ever taken away, users would have to access Google.com.hk or Google's other international Web sites directly, but authorities can limit access to those websites.

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The announcement comes almost two weeks after the Internet giant said it made changes to its Chinese Web site because authorities criticized its decision in March to redirect all traffic to its Chinese domain, Google.cn, to an uncensored website in Hong Kong to get around government censorship requirements.

On June 28, Google created a new Google.cn page that presented users with a message in Chinese that asks users to remember its new Web address, Google.com.hk. Rather than being automatically redirected to the new site, users must click on an image to be taken to the company's unfiltered Chinese website. Mr. Drummond announced that day that the company had resubmitted its application for the content license after making the change.

Google said China renewed its Internet license and that the company looks forward to continuing to provide products to "our users in China." Aaron Back and Evan Newmark discuss.

A Google spokeswoman said that the government's renewal of Google's content provider license means that the changes made to Google.cn were deemed satisfactory. Google is required to renew its license annually, though the license technically expires in 2012.

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