From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Wed Sep 04 2002 - 21:54:30 MDT
Consider the following news story and my commentary following:
Popular search tool appears to have been banned
The Chinese government appears to have blocked
access to the Google search engine, according to reports.
Google is hugely popular with users in China because
it can run searches in the Chinese language. But web
masters from China contacted the BBC to tell them
that access to the site had been blocked. It is thought
to be the first time Beijing has shut down access to an
internet search engine, although provincial governments
have attacked internet cafes recently and some foriegn
news websites are blocked.
Licensed internet cafes must also install software
blocking around half a million websites. The Google
ban is being widely debated on the web, with citizens
pleading for access to the search engine. There has
been no official announcement from Beijing.
spike commentary: I checked on this and the Chinese
government has indeed blocked access to my favorite
search engine. The news story did not offer the actual
reason it took this action however. As it turns out, the
Chinese were entertaining each other by endlessly
pronouncing the name of the search engine, which in
Chinese is translated "Googer."
Groups of Chinese were seen standing around repeating
"Googer Googer Googer..." and falling prostrate in gails
of laughter. So much productivity was lost, the Chinese
government was forced to step in and say "That's it, you
rousy commies, no more Googer!"
Protests are expected.
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