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It was all good and usual in China until reports of issues with Google services started flooding in. The reasons are still unknown, but it seems Google services have been halted in the faraway land. This includes Gmail, Google Maps and Google Docs, which are essential to many users.
What is even more interesting is that it happened right as the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress takes place, which is when the country’s new leaders are elected. During this event, the Chinese Government holds the right to block any websites that don’t comply with their media regulations. The same regulations Google mentioned, in 2010, they would not comply to.
The problem is more than likely related to this, as Google has stated the following:
“We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end” -Google
Meanwhile, Google searches are being re-routed to a Korean site by using DNS Poisoning. Google has seen a major drop in traffic in said country, so there is no doubt this is no accident.
It is sad to hear our Chinese friends are not able to enjoy these services at the moment. If you have ever experienced a server drop from Google, you would know a huge part of our internet use is affected. To some of us, it would become near impossible to continue with our daily tasks, and we might not even be able to easily continue our work.
We just have to wonder how this is working with mobile devices in China. Are Android’s native applications and Google services being affected on smartphones? If we have any readers from China, please do let us know. For now, let’s just wait and hope it all goes back to normal soon.
[via Business Week]
Good for google not giving in to oppression – tho of course you have to feel for the people as they suffer for googles stance.
I tried to go a day without using any Google services just to see if I could.
…I couldn’t…
Android phones sold under cellular contract in China exclude the Google play store and all the Google apps such as gmail, calendar, Maps… Instead they provide a Chinese based applications market.. Those affected are the phone sold in the black or grey market..
Correct, just like the Kindle Fire and other inexpensive tablets they come with the Android API only. The Google API adds $50 to the phone price.
$50…where did you get that number from!?
The Android developer site where they explain the 3 license levels. I don’t know if the fee has changed by now as when I looked a few months back I couldn’t find that page. The levels were the free open source Android API, then the Google API which requires a fee per device and a third “partner” license for companies like Samsung, HTC etc. I would think maybe the $50 fee might have been reduced and that’s what I was checking.
Good for Google standing their ground. Maybe the Chinese people will be reminded by this event how much communism sucks
Maybe for you because you think you understand it. Just like others would say democracy suck.
…… Troll
Exactly, which is why I’m glad that i live in a representative republic. Democracy is nothing but tyranny of the majority. Federalist #48. Go read it.
Says the guy with a che sticker on his VW.
It’s not communism that sucks, it’s the implementations of it which have been all about making the powerful richer and more powerful. Just like capitalism which sucks more IMO.
Except capitalism isn’t responsible for between 3-60 million killed as under Socialism. That is just under Stalin, add in the millions under Hitler (His party was named the
National Socialist German Workers Party , if you don’t remember).
Capitalism has killed far more people in it’s history, which includes a huge amount of slavery and throughout it’s history has seen an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor.
I have a serious distaste for both but I prefer the ideals of communism.
As I said, it’s the implementation of communism that’s screwed it up in peoples minds, just like you, selecting the power hungry and paranoid leaders that killed a huge number of people while gaining more power.
However there are OTHER socio-economic systems that have yet to gain to traction, which will hopefully move society forward to the point that people will look back at these times and laugh at our ignorance.
WoW. You really need a history lesson. Last I checked no democracy had walls to keep people in. As much as you want to seem …. Look into Stalin, Look into the German Workers party, see the Berlin wall, ask why people get into inner tubes to come here read about forced abortions in China. Talk to someone who lived in North Korea if you dont believe the news(I have). Your comments are hurtful to anyone who lived under a social rule.
Democracy isnt perfect by any means. Capitalism does make the rich richer sometimes, but it also rewards ambition and intelligence.
Capitalism in it’s current state rewards the selfish and greedy far more than the generous and selfless.
Selfishness > intelligence in this system
What good does the banking system do for the world or human society?
You put a question mark where a period should be.
There is absolutely no question as to what’s happening in China.
The whole “It was all good and usual in China” part made me frown because they are oppressed all the time in all sorts of ways, I feel bad
And that’s different to which other countries?
First of all, the “average” Chinese user doesn’t care a bit about this. Almost everyone here uses Baidu for search and QQMail for email. This is a non event here in China except for those of us that are ex-pats. My mobile phone goes to google.hk which is always up and running. When I VPN from my phone to google.com, nothing works (which is not unusual). The story just isn’t a big deal here.
Excuse my ignorance–but why is it only the ex-pats that know the go around?
All of my Chinese friends know how to do it. They just don’t want to spend the $6/mo. for a VPN. Everyone here can get at google.hk (Hong Kong) so this isn’t the problem as most westerners pretend.
Thank you for the answer. I don’t even pretend to know how things work in other countries, but I enjoy learning.
We’re in a Cold War with China (and a new Cold War with Russia), no shocker here.
Whatever advantages china has over the rest of the world will be swallowed up eventually by the advancement of everything everywhere else. This might explain why china has not “taken over the us” yet like some people think.
Disqus need to make typing message from my mobile better.
i’m in Shanghai, China. google services on my android phone was broken the day before yesterday. about 12 hours i guess. at that time, i can’t access to google play even when i was on an VPN. (yes, i can access to facebook on this vpn) but yesterday it works again
It would be better that. Google jus pull out of China. More people use Baidu Anyway therefore Google won’t lose much or nothing at all ny leaving China.
I wouldnt know what to do without Google. They are the Internet. As far as I am concerned without Google you might as well just throw away your computers and smart phones.
At Present i am in china , google search is not blocked , i am able to access google search, gmail and google maps , google + is blocked form many days before itself.
I think the most important thing here is to find out if this was a government decision to block Google and other foreign services. Or if there were/are technical difficulties. After that we can go from there.
I believe that foreign trade should be based on reciprocity, you buy my products/services and I buy yours wherever one country has an advantage on the upstream side, the other should use this on the downstream side and VICE VERSA. I’d refuse to trade with a nation that won’t allow my domestic products to be implemented in their market unless the products are regulated such as certain foods and medications can’t be imported because they are seen as unhealthy. Again that’s my believe and I am not saying any wrong has been done here until further investigation and or given reason as of why the import has been blocked if it even was blocked.
To RavenFox :Are you in China or are you just saying that ? I have been in China and let me tell you you can’t speak against the goverment or you will be sent to prison ,How is that better then democracy ???