The Speculist

Google is a company that we Speculists generally have a lot of respect for. Almost anytime I use my computer, I use Google.

We understand that Google is motivated by profit just like any other company, but they have usually had the good sense to pursue profit in ways that help people. Google's motto, "Don't be evil" might come across as a bit too precious, but it also has the benefit of being easy to understand.

Unfortunately it's not always easy to live up to. Google's decision to collaborate with the People's Republic of China in censoring Chinese web searches is evil. We are hardly the only ones to think so. By agreeing with the Chinese government to do this, Google has become part of the machine that is suppressing the freedoms of 1.3 billion people.

Obviously they are motivated by the thought that they could serve millions of Chinese web surfers. And they don't want to fall behind competitors that are already collaborating with the Chinese government - Microsoft and Yahoo (more shame on them for leading the way).

It also helped their rationalization, I'm sure, that they decided to do something that, to my knowledge, the other collaborators are not yet doing - Google is informing the Chinese public when their searches are being censored.

That being the case, The Speculist hereby announces a program to mitigate this evil:

If you are a Chinese user of Google who has received notice that your search has been censored, let us know. We will search Google from the United States and post the results here.

One rule: We won't search for pornography.

My email address is:

mrstg87 {at symbol} yahoo {dot} com

Obviously, The Speculist will, itself, be quickly censored in China for this. That's cool - gives us street cred with a good crowd. But, obviously this will defeat the purpose of this program. What we need is a network of bloggers that will sign on to be a part of this. We also need a name and a logo. Any bloggers interested in helping in any way should also contact me.

As this program develops we will author a faq that will contain the results of censored searches. We will need multiple hosts for this faq. We will also take advantage of peer-to-peer systems if that will insure access.

Obviously this would be of greater value if written in Chinese. If you can translate, we need your help as well.

I admit complete ignorance when it comes to how the Internet operates in China. Therefore, we need technical assistance too.

UPDATE (from Phil): If you're not familiar with the phrase, "You can't stop the signal," here's some recommended viewing.