I am really glad to hear that Google is reconsidering its deal with the Chinese government to set up a google.cn that intentionally blocks requests for search terms such as "Tiananmen Square" or "Falun Gong". Google has been trying to argue that some access to information is better than none at all and that this justified their complicity in the censorship being exercised by the Chinese government. Now it would appear that they are considering a more principled approach.
This change of heart is probably due to the chorus of criticism that they have received from groups such as Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International. I even heard a fiction writer at the Sydney Writers' Festival use most of her speaking time to raise her concerns about this issue.
Anyway, regardless of the reason, I think that it is good news. The last thing that is going to help human rights in China is for corporations to start legitimising the oppression of the Chinese people, by cooperating with the government. Hopefully Yahoo will also reconsider its own actions in this regard.
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