Hypocrisy, thy name is Google

When the U.S. government asks Google to divulge not individuals' names, but just search patterns and volume for child pornography and child pornography websites, Google climbs up on its moral pedestal and refuses to comply with the U.S. government's request to gain some traction against child pornographers on the grounds of principles of freedom and privacy.

A couple of weeks later, when the Chinese government tells Google that it must censure and block out the search results of 1.3 BILLION Chinese if the search includes anything having a political element to it, Google of course tells the Chinese government where it can stick its request, just like it did the US government, right? Wrong! Google rolled over for the Chinese government like a drunk, paid-off prostitute.

The difference, of course, is money. Standing on principle against the US gov't request cost Google no loss of revenue - it actually gained them free publicity and the admiration of the mainstream media. But standing up to the Chinese government on principle would have cost Google huge revenues in advertising dollars, so Google told the Chinese gov't "we'll do whatever you say, just please let us get our lips around that revenue crack pipe."

Nice to know Google believes in principles. Sad that those principles are on sale.