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Archive for January 12th, 2010

Google Threatens To Pull Out Of China Over Free Speech (GOOG, BIDU)

January 12th, 2010 | Author: Dan Frommer

ericschmidt hands tbi Google just made a big threat to the Chinese government over free speech and censorship.

The U.S. search giant says it will “review the feasibility of our business operations” in the country, following attacks on Google’s infrastructure and continued restriction of free speech.

Google says it may shut down its Chinese search engine — and potentially close its offices in China — if the Chinese government does not allow it to run an uncensored search engine within the law.

Google chief legal officer David Drummond made the announcement in a blog post this evening.

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today.

The announcement follows cyber attacks on Google servers (and other companies’) designed to access Gmail and Google accounts used by Chinese human rights activists.

Google’s business in China is not huge, but it could drive future growth, especially if Google were to gain more traction in the country. For context, Google’s search share in China is around 15%-20%, much lower than leader Baidu, which is around 75%-80%.

Baidu shares are up 2.33% after hours to $395.50, while Google shares are down 1.6% to $581.01.

So will Google be the one that finally gets the Chinese government to relax its policies? Will Google pull out of China under protest? Or will the two settle on a middle ground?

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Quote Of The Day: Associates “Isolated, Overspecialized And Dehumanized”

January 12th, 2010 | Author: Erin Geiger Smith

What happens when a legal consulting firm sits down with 15 up-and-coming associates at a big law firm?

First, they find out that almost two-thirds of them had never met.

The ABA Journal pointed to a report (PDF) by legal consultants Altman Weil, who helped an unnamed national firm design a program to improve communication among attorneys.

The report admitted the difficulties of improving face-to-face communication in a digital world, but said that participants in the program were encouraged about the benefits of really getting to know each other — chatting in person leads to a flow of ideas and collaborative alliances, it turns out.

But the quote of the day comes in the form of report author Douglas Richardson’s description of what has happened to young associates working in huge firms where digital communcation is practically the only communication.

They feel “isolated, overspecialized and dehumanized,” he said. “They grow ever more cynical and slow to trust, as is reflected in many firms’ retention problems. So any initiative that treats them like individuals and communicates with them like humans will enhance morale and improve retention.”

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Here’s My Solution To The Banker Bonus Problem

January 12th, 2010 | Author: Larry Kudlow

I have a few thoughts concerning the burgeoning public backlash against big banker bonus announcements expected in the weeks ahead. This backlash of course stems from taxpayer fury over banks which were rescued by taxpayer-financed TARP money.

A recent Rasmussen poll revealed that 61 percent believe the government should regulate the level of pay and bonuses for company executives who were on the public dole. However, if the bailed out banks do pay their money back, then another 64 percent say the government should actually stay on the sidelines and not regulate compensation.

Here’s my thought: the banks need to step up the plate, fess up, and thank the American taxpayers for their largesse. It’s a public relations move. They’ve never really done that. Taxpayers deserve a thank you. That’s point number one.

Point number two: in June of last year, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, joined by eight other banks, all paid down TARP. So, my humble opinion is that these banks ought to receive their bonuses, whatever that number may be, for the second half of the year, but not the TARP-ed up first half of the year.

As for the other big banks like Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, they didn’t de-TARP until the end of 2009. So why should they get any bonuses at all? And if they do get any bonuses, these bonuses should be minuscule.

In other words, let the banks that paid back their TARP money in June take a half-year bonus. The ones that didn’t should forego 2009, and look forward to 2010.

Read more at Kudlow’s Money Politic$ and be sure to catch the Kudlow Report on CNBC at 7 PM.

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