slice of koh

Is it war between corporation and country?  In December, Google detected a cyberattack originating from China that resulted in theft of intellectual property.  The cyberattack also targeted other US companies and accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.  Up until now, Google has censored some results in hopes to increase information access in China.  Now they are revisiting their business operations in China and are no longer willing to censor results on Google.cn.

There is a lot at stake.  Losing a high-profile company would be embarrassing to the Chinese government who promise good business conditions to foreign investors.  As the Chinese government seeks to make China a global technology leader, losing the investment of one of the top technology companies in the world would surely be scrutinized.  In all likelihood, Beijing is unlikely to end all censorship and would possibly seek a compromise to keep its image in check.

Cyber espionage has been around for years between national governments but national governments targeting their current and future foreign investors?  That could be taking a little too far.