In a Feb. 3 resolution, the Senate called on the Chinese government to conduct a thorough
review of the cyber-attacks and make the results of the investigation transparent. The resolution
also supports a recent initiative by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to encourage Internet
freedom by promoting technology designed to circumvent electronic censorship and monitoring
worldwide. The resolution also highlights the range of efforts within China to restrict press
freedom and freedom of expression, especially on the Internet.
Google said Jan. 12 it will stop censoring searches on its Google.cn and reconsider the feasibility
of doing business in China at all after the search giant reported cyber-attacks from within China
aimed at gaining access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists. Google also said 20
other companies from a wide range of businesses had suffered similar attacks. To date, Google
has taken no action.
Google's possible pullback from China comes at a time when Washington is attempting to persuade Beijing to curb its Internet censorship policies as part of the United States' larger policy initiatives involving the intellectual property rights of companies doing business in China, where piracy rates are high. (Source: eWeek,.com. Feb 4, 2010