Lawmaker Blasts Microsoft
Microsoft came under attack Wednesday from a House lawmaker for not following Google's lead in resisting China's demand for foreign firms to abide by the country's censorship rules and Internet restrictions.
During a hearing focused on Internet control in China before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, singled out Microsoft, which has said it will continue to operate in China and follow Chinese laws. Microsoft "needs to get with the program" and "join the side of human rights...rather than enabling tyranny," Smith said.
In response, Microsoft spokeswoman Christina Pearson said, "We appreciate that different companies may make different decisions based on their own experiences and views. At Microsoft we remain committed to advancing free expression through active engagement in over 100 countries, even as we comply with the laws in every country in which we operate."
Google stopped censoring Chinese search results on Monday and began redirecting users to its uncensored Hong Kong-based site, although Chinese Web filters will block some of that content.
Commission Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., described Google's action as "a strong step in favor of freedom of expression and information" and "a powerful indictment of the Chinese government's insistence of censorship of the Internet."
Members of the commission, which is made up of House and Senate lawmakers, also praised another firm at the hearing, Go Daddy, the nation's biggest provider of Internet address registration services. Go Daddy General Counsel and Executive Vice President Christine Jones told the panel that increased surveillance by the Chinese government has prompted it to stop providing new address registration services for China's domestic domain name, .cn.
"We did not want to act as an agent of the Chinese government," she said.
Cyber-attacks, spam, and payment fraud all traceable to China are additional problems with operating in that country, Jones said, noting that Go Daddy will continue to manage existing .cn names, just as Google also maintains some operations in China, including a sales force.
At the same hearing, Alan Davidson, Google's director of public policy, called on Congress and the Obama Administration to team up with the private sector in a battle against global Internet censorship.
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