Alan Davidson, a chief Google executive, spoke out to encourage new regulations for governments that filter the Internet, on the grounds that censorship is impeding international trade.
Davidson, who is the director of United States public policy for Google stood before a joint Congressional panel to suggest draft trade agreements that include a free search/ anti-censorship promise. Davidson asserted that the practice of filtering the internet, as China has been, has extended from a human rights issue to an international trade issue. Davidson is of the opinion that the filtering is damaging profits for foreign companies.
“The growing problem for Internet censorship is not isolated to one country or one region,” he said in Congressional-Executive Commission discussing China. “No single company and no single industry can tackle Internet censorship on its own.”
Google has gained the support of the U.S. government in their stand against censorship and has begun to garner the support of peers as well. Internet Services firm, Go Daddy Group is joining the fight, putting a stop on new Chinese domain names.
An excess of 40 countries actively filter Internet searches according to Davidson who noted of those, 25 governments block Google.
The panel was chaired by North Dakota Senator Byron L. Dorgan who voiced support for the Google decision stating, “The truth is China too often wants a one-way relationship with the world.”
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