Breaking down China's Great Firewall

weekly roundup So, does China filter the Net or not? The rumblings have been going on for a long time now. And while Chinese officials have denied such allegations, their western counterparts have made it clear they believe otherwise.

Last November, a Chinese official said the country does not deploy software that blocks Internet sites and instead attributed the issue to a problem with access.

This week, however, one of my colleagues in the U.S. visited Beijing and "tested" the censors in China to some interesting results.

So, does China censor or does it not? But, the question is, does it really matter?

It's the prerogative of every government to decide whether it wants to censor material and information, online or offline, that its people view and have access to. If governments are the appointed heads of a country, then it's up to the citizens of that country to decide--and vocalize--how they want their government to run their homeland.

Sometimes, foreign observers forget that this is a fundamental right of any citizen and have proceeded to decry the Chinese people's restricted access to information.

What's that saying again... When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

There are businesses that have shown an effort to observe this maxim. A Google executive, for instance, recently said to some journalists in Singapore that it runs its operations in China as it does in any international land--within the boundaries of the country's government policies and regulations.

The search giant, along with other companies such as Yahoo and Microsoft, have come under fire for their "obedience" and willingness to abide by China's requests.

Home to the world's largest population, China still has a sizeable untapped--and lucrative--Internet market and it's clear why tech companies would grab any opportunity to set up shop in the country. But, just as any company that operates in Europe or the United States, businesses that operate in China will have to observe its laws and regulations.

Does that mean I condone China's policy on Net censorship? Not necessarily. But it means I understand why companies like Google and Yahoo, have felt the need to comply with China's "unique" requirements. Do you agree? Post your comments on Talkback or ping me.

In other news this week, Dell Computer holds off its Linux initiative in Asia-Pacific, for now, while Thailand's ICT minister second guesses himself. Also, find out what Asia's data centers need and could North Korea join the ranks of India and China?