TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Google Tosses in Towel ... Now What?

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 04-09-10 | Comments

Google�s dispute with China over censorship reveals lessons about the state of IT in the world�s largest nation.

While Google is essentially thumbing its nose at China�s censorship policy, an IT entrepreneur like Richard Granville embraces more of an �If you can�t beat 'em, lead 'em� approach.

Not that he advocates censorship. But his Fort Myers-based Cinnabar Ventures has created an Internet operating system called Yippy that presents an edited version of the Web for those who want one. Instead of a �wild, wild West� approach where anything goes, the system cleans up the cyber-playground. Granville sees a market for an edited Internet environment in the U.S. market where businesses and families are clamoring for a controlled digital �sandbox.� Granville is also looking at a place like China as a strong market for his creation.

�American businesses are losing productivity due to employees visiting gaming and adult-oriented Websites during business hours,� Granville says. �China is 110 percent focused on building its business economy and has no interest in workers losing focus. There�s a steep cost to be paid for unlimited, uncensored access to the Internet, with its contribution to the deterioration of family values and diminished employee productivity.�

Up through last month, Google China had ranked as the No. 2 search engine in the People�s Republic of China. But the company clashed with government officials there over accusations of censorship. After further allegations that China hacked systems to gain information on political dissidents, Google redirected all traffic to its operations in Hong Kong, where censorship isn�t an issue.

The sequence of events conveys the complexities of attempting to launch IT enterprises in China. That said, it is the world�s most populous nation and cannot be ignored. Here are some bigger-picture lessons to be learned by the Google experience:
- Don�t pretend that your company�s moral superiority will overcome all. Google�s reputation is that of a high-minded, progressive company. Which is all well and good. But what works in the United States and Europe doesn�t necessarily work elsewhere. �It�s the height of arrogance for a company to set up business overseas and fail to respect the laws and customs of that country,� says Philip Lieberman, a longtime IT industry expert/author/UCLA instructor who is also the founder and president of Los Angeles-based Lieberman Software. �China has the right to do what it feels is right for its citizens, and Google has no right to impose its values. If China requires filtering, Google cannot whine about it while also reaching into the pockets of advertisers to enrich itself upon the same traffic. That�s eating the fruit of the poison tree.�
- Don�t diss your hosts. Disagreement is fine. Disagreement in public is not. China has a long, proud history�regardless of how one feels about its human-rights record�and officials there do not take well to public scoldings. �The Google China story teaches us that, in China, you must understand to give �face� to the government there�even if you disagree or are mad with them,� says Savio Chan, president and CEO of U.S. China Partners, a Melville, N.Y.-based firm specializing in business development between the two nations. �Discuss issues in private,� he relates. �Never talk to the foreign media first. If you �Google� the concept of success in China, the keyword is �government.��
- Realize that change is an evolution, and the key to change is understanding from within. The China of today is much different from that of, say, President Nixon�s visit in 1972. And while the impact of IT and Western influence can be transformational, all nations progress within their own timetable. �Both the U.S. and China have a lot to learn when it comes to interacting,� says John Wagster, executive vice president and general counsel of Freeborders, a San Fransisco-based tech solutions/business consultancy that helps Internet-based companies and other enterprises expand globally. �Censorship is nothing new in China. Understanding censorship there along with its other cultural distinctions is key to doing business there. The Chinese government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on physical and technology infrastructure for the express purpose of attracting Western business. We should be mindful that it�s much easier to instigate further change from inside the tent.�