Letters to the editor

Censor U.S., not China?

To the editor:

It's too bad Matt Dollar does not want Americans to enjoy the freedom he advocates for China. He could learn something from Google's "Don't Be Evil" motto. The only thing worse than his poorly-written diatribe advocating the kidnapping and assault of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is the fact that Dollar failed to read a single word on the topic before spouting off. I'd expect that someone writing for a newspaper would actually pick one up occasionally, so that his opinions interpret, rather than replace, the facts.

First up, Google's censorship in China. It's true that Google has agreed to censor some search results on their China-only site, as have Yahoo! and MSN. However, the alternative is providing no service in China and allowing the Great Firewall of China to block all of these search engines. How is more censorship better?

As for the subpoena matter, Dollar is so wrong it's laughable. It has nothing to do with child pornography or prosecution. Google was subpoenaed for entire search query results for one million random web addresses over a one week period, to determine the prevalence of pornography online. This information will be used to fight free speech in an attempt to reverse multiple court decisions favoring the ACLU over government censorship. Why should Google turn over its proprietary information when this court case has nothing to do with Google or any crime?

Perhaps the government should conduct its own research, rather than bully and steal from others.

Reid Conti

OMIS '06