Tag Archive | "China"
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Googling Obama’s China policy
By Eamon Javers Kenneth P. Vogel POLITICO.COM
Google's ties to the Obama administration are perhaps unrivaled in corporate America, but the Internet giant's announcement this week that it's considering pulling out of China because of Chinese censorship and hacker attacks put the White House in a tricky spot. "They like to go around and sing the mantra, 'Don't be evil,'" said John Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. "But they almost always act in what they perceive to be Google's interest - and that doesn't necessarily coincide with that of any government."
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Security Firm Outlines How Attack Against Google Was Pulled Off
By Pete Carey THE SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Friday, January 15, 2010
A Silicon Valley Internet security firm on Thursday described for the first time how hackers from China were able to crack Google's defenses, saying the attackers took advantage of a flaw in Microsoft's Web browser to probe deeply into the company's network. In addition to the Google network, the high-profile intrusion also targeted Gmail accounts in the United States and other countries. This may prompt users to demand better security for electronic mail and other personal data that's stored on Internet clouds, some advocates say. "The problem up until now is that people like Google have emphasized speed and efficiency and ease of use," said John M. Simpson, an advocate with Consumer Watchdog. "In too many cases, they have let security and privacy become a secondary issue. This situation is a wake-up call for everybody."
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Google Finally Improves Security Of Gmail Connections As Consumer Watchdog Urged
CONTACT: John M. Simpson 310-392-0522 x317 or cell 310-292-2901
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Santa Monica, CA -- In the wake of cyber attacks from China Google has announced it will improve security for consumers connecting to its Gmail service over the Internet by encrypting data traveling to its servers, a move Consumer Watchdog called on the Internet giant to make more than a year ago.
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Chinese Attacks On Google Show Need For Internet Giant To Focus On Security, Privacy
CONTACT: John M. Simpson 310-392-0522 x317 or cell 310-292-1902
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Santa Monica, CA -- Google acted correctly in ending self-censorship of its Chinese search engine, Google.cn, but the cyber attacks that prompted the decision demonstrate the company must give American consumers better security and privacy controls, Consumer Watchdog said today.
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Google Does An About-Face On China Policy
By James Temple THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
San Francisco, CA -- In a surprise announcement late Tuesday, Google Inc. said it may turn its back on the huge Chinese market after a sophisticated cyber attack on the e-mail accounts of human rights advocates in the Asian nation. Some have dubbed the country's censorship efforts, which apply to Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s search engines too, the "Great Firewall of China." Users of Google.cn in China generally couldn't look at images of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, dig up information about Tibet's Dalai Lama or access the Web site for journalism watchdog organization Reporters Without Borders, according to reports. "While Google should never have agreed to censor search results in China in the first place, it is doing the right thing by ending the practice now," said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog in Los Angeles. "The company should be commended."
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Google May Leave China In Wake Of Hacker Attacks
By David Sarno Jessica Guynn THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Internet firm says it will stop the scorned practice of censoring users' search results. Public interest groups lauded Google's move to stop censoring search results. "While Google should never have agreed to censor search results in China in the first place, it is doing the right thing by ending the practice now," said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog.
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Google’s Book-Scan Deal Is Not Solid Yet
By Alex Pham LOS ANGELES TIMES
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Google Inc.'s settlement with authors and publishers over the digital scanning of books got a preliminary approval from a federal judge last week, but the controversy may be far from over. In fact, legal experts and industry observers who have been closely following the case believe the fight over Google's ambitious book-scanning efforts is just starting all over again.
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Antitrust Concerns Linger In Google Books Deal
By Elinor Mills CNET.COM
Monday, November 16, 2009
The revised Google Books settlement agreement may quiet international opponents, but it still gives Google a monopoly on commercializing out-of-print books where the copyrights are unclaimed and fails to protect consumer privacy, opponents said on Monday. Also troubling to critics is the fact that the revised settlement circumvents traditional copyright provisions by allowing Google to digitize orphan works without first getting rights holder permission, while any Google competitors are blocked from doing so barring legislation granting them licensing rights. "For the millions of volumes of orphan books that Google has already scanned in, they can offer those without risk of anyone coming forward and suing them for infringement," said John Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.
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Google, Authors Try To Answer Book Deal Concerns
By Diane Bartz REUTERS
Saturday, November 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Google and the Authors Guild filed a new version of a deal to create a massive online library on Friday in hopes of answering antitrust and copyright concerns in the United States and overseas. Critics of the deal have been a varied group that includes Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, the National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer Arlo Guthrie.
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Microsoft’s Secret ‘Screw Google’ Meetings In D.C.
By Sam Gustin DAILY FINANCE
Friday, August 28, 2009
In recent months, two heavily detailed, annotated versions of confidential Google slide presentations -- one dealing with competition issues, the other with behavioral targeting -- have been published by a Santa Monica–based group called Consumer Watchdog. The annotations are highly critical of Google and seek to rebut the search giant's arguments.
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Is Google Burning Its Brand?
By Erik Sherman bNET TECHNOLOGY
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The recent incident involved a privacy group called Consumer Watchdog. The organization and Google have had a history of run-ins. Consumer Watchdog has been critical of Google in terms of privacy, and has been aggressive at times in publicly challenging the search giant, as can be seen in this video ironically documented on YouTube, which is owned by Google.
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Consumer Watchdog’s Carmen Balber discusses Internet privacy and the need for an online “Do Not Track Me” list.
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Friday, January 15, 2010
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