Google fighting to make censorship illegal

It seems Google has had enough of the Chinese and Vietnamese internet filters (amongst other countries) and is look at taking further action.

Google is working with the U.S. government to try to make it illegal for countries to censor the Internet using the rules of international trade.

Listing broker head of communications, Robert Boorstin, in Washington told audiences that Google is convinced, as other companies, that censorship is a barrier to trade and said a number of ministries will work with the company to file a case before the World Trade Organization (WTO). The idea is that search results in Google censored limits the ability to enjoy fair trade and local competitors (such as Chinese search engine Baidu) for commercial advantage.

Google hopes that if he fight against communists in the struggle for freedom, that nobody will notice that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has accused Google of breaking privacy by looking at private networks and the illegal storage of data. Or that the deputy White House CTO has recently been reprimanded for inappropriate political discussions with his former Google colleagues.

Using the WTO to discipline Beijing is a smart move. First mentioned by the EU Vice-President, Neelie Kroes last month – EU officials quickly downplayed the comments saying that the issue require the construction of the first. Now comes Google and the U.S. government looking into international trade laws to stop internet censorship.