WASHINGTON: Google Inc.'s co-founder Sergey Brin admitted Tuesday his company had compromised its principles by acceding to demands by the Chinese on imposing censorship in the search results provided by the company. He said Google is trying to make the deal work before deciding whether to reverse the course.
Talking to the media near Capitol Hill, Brin said Google had agreed to the censorship demands only after the Chinese government blocked its service in that country. The company's competitors had by that time agreed to these demands -- which he said were a "a set of rules that we weren't comfortable with" -- without international criticism.
He said Google then felt it would compromise on its principles but it would ultimately offer more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service and perhaps make more of a difference.
Google's China-approved website, Google.cn, is excluding all politically sensitive information that could be retrieved during internet searches by Chinese people. This information includes details about the 1989 suppression of political unrest in Tiananmen Square.
Brin maintained that Google is trying to improve this service, before deciding whether to reverse course. However, only 1 per cent of Chinese users use Google.cn, while the majority uses the unfiltered www.google.com, he averred.
Brin also touched upon the expectations of privacy by internet users at a time of increased government oversight, saying Americans have misunderstood the limited safeguards of their personal electronic information. "I think it's interesting that the expectations of people with respect to what happens to their data seems to be different than what is actually happening," he said.
Google had contested the U.S. justice department's demand for information on Google users and their methods of search. It has taken the department to court in this regard.
Brin had been to Washington to lobby with U.S. senators to approve a plan that would prevent telephone and cable companies from collecting premium fees from companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! for faster delivery of their services.
Brin had a meeting with Republican John McCain, a member of the Senate committee that oversees telecommunications issues.
The major internet site operators have joined hands with small website owners in opposing broadband providers who want to offer faster network performance to companies that pay more. The issue has now come to be known as "net neutrality" and many internet site operators are opposing the proposed two-tier system of access and pricing proposed by the telecom companies.
Brin said Google and other major companies may be able to have deals with network service providers but for Google searches to become valuable, customers should be able to quickly access the sites listed in the results.
The U.S House of Representatives is expected to vote on a telecommunications reform bill, which does not include the net neutrality protection. But, the bill is expected to direct the Federal Communications Commission to enforce the agency's September 2005 broadband policy statement that says consumers are entitled to access the content and applications of their choice.
