Philipp has detailed reporting on the Google China censorship issue, and shows on how Google already censors results in Germany and France. He then makes some blistering suggestions:

So, Google, if everything is shiny and happy in the Googleplex, please hand over the list of banned words or sites for every country. It’s a gray zone for sure, so we need transparency. Put that list on a public server in the US, where freedom of speech prevails.

And while you’re at it, please, offer every other country in the world – never-mind its economic size or internet market share – an easy way to ban their own things too in Google. Now that you’ve set the moral precedent, that would only be fair, and algorithmically balanced, wouldn’t it? It would prove that you’re not changing your morals depending on the size of a market, and it would allow every dictator, every repressive regime, and every government restricting human rights to work with you. Your market share would be growing even more, and by your argument, you’d be making positive contributions at the same time.

Note the sarcasm slowly bubbling into anger...

¶ 1/25/2006