Microsoft was in similar hot water in January after blocking access to the Chinese blog by government critic Michael Anti. In September, it was revealed Yahoo supplied information that Chinese authorities used in sentencing journalist Shi Tao to 10 years in prison.
Asking for help from the U.S. government is one of the few realistic options for these companies. "China is becoming more and more of an important market for a variety of businesses, and they have to decide either they want to do business there or they don't," says Andrew Serwin, a partner in the law firm Foley & Lardner. "And if they do, they've got to comply with those laws."
Stay Transparent
Beyond asking for government help, the companies are trying to make their censorship more transparent, rather than wait until they're called out for it. Google disclosed its censorship policy and will notify users when results have been censored.
Last week, Microsoft senior VP and general counsel Brad Smith set forth his company's new policy for censoring MSN Spaces blog content, saying it would block blogs only after a legally binding notice from government authorities that the content in question violates the law. Access will be denied only in the country in question, and Microsoft will notify customers that the government is responsible for the restrictions.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
