Google and China

This is interesting: Google has stopped filtering results in China to open up a dialogue with the government there.  Now I'm not going to weigh in and say what is good or bad here, but it's not a bad move by Google to tell the government that they are just leaving.

Imagine if all your companies, industries, and people were no longer searchable! Could you imagine what that would do to your contry's ability to generate revenue from your goods and services?  Not to mention the loss of productivity from not being able to access content and knowledge from the rest of the world.

Which makes me wonder: Who really is the problem here?  Google: who has the clout now to render a country's Internet discovery at their mercy, or China: a country who wishes to regulate the content accessible to their users.

I'm not sure what you think: but for me, neither exactly describes net neutrality.  But it is an extremely interesting talking point...

Update: I also note how well timed Google's release of this was around the Nexus One launch (and the bad press around it) and also print advertising (well here in France anyway).  Coincidence?  I think not.

Pak