But if anyone can manage to mitigate such a risk, it is no doubt the Chinese, |
China is the most repressive censorship regime on the Internet. |
Filtering technologies, and the way that they are implemented, are becoming more sophisticated. |
For too long, these companies have been able to hide in the shadows of the Internet. What we're after is a more accountable Internet. |
For too long, unscrupulous companies have made millions of dollars infecting our computers with malicious software. This is so dangerous because there are intruders in your house, but you don't know that they are in there or how they got there. |
Intruders are now in your house without your permission. They entered through your computer to bombard you with sneaky pop-ups and install tracking software to spy on your every move and steal your most personal information. |
It's much harder [to enforce codes of conduct] when the operations of our companies are carried out in other countries by subsidiaries or companies in which they've invested that are chartered in those countries. It's not that there's nothing Congress can do, it's just that it takes more political will. |
It's putting the providers of this software on notice that we're going to be paying attention. |
It's related to the problems that Yahoo and Microsoft and others are facing in China, ... but here the issue is that these technology security companies are directly profiting from the censorship regime itself. |
Massachusetts is the canary in the mine on this issue. If Massachusetts gets this right, others will follow. |
On the one hand, these are important, critical issues for the future of democracy in the world, and on the other, they're thorny and unpleasant to talk about. It's a massive brewing dispute. |
Other companies that follow similar practices beware: This is just the beginning of what we hope to identify and publicize. |
Our studies have shown that China's online censorship systems are by far the most sophisticated and extensive in the world. |
That's when you'll see the true colors of the company on this topic. |
The bloom is off the rose for the Internet industry. There is a sense that American companies have a higher obligation than has been practiced in China in recent years. |