A Thought Experiment On How Google's New Palestine Page Could Undermine Peace Talks
The Israeli Foreign Minister has sent a strongly worded letter to Google CEO, Larry Page, warning him that their new Palestine search page could undermine Middle-East peace negotiations. “Such a decision is in my opinion not only mistaken but could also negatively impinge on the efforts of my government to bring about direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” wrote minister Ze’ev Elkin, about Google’s decision to change “Palestinian Territories” to “Palestine” on Google.ps (picture above). Careful followers of foreign policy news might question how exactly a tiny word change on a website could upset arguably the most resource-intensive diplomatic effort in human history, but we think such skepticism underestimates Google’s vast geo-political power. Here’s a thought experiment of 5 different ways Google could have a meaningful impact: 1. Well, maybe Google could…no, that wouldn’t do anything 2. … 3. … 4. … 5. … Ok, we can’t think ...
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China's Broadband Penetration Is Increasingly Lagging Behind Developed Nations, Says MIIT's Research Head
The research chief of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday (link via Google Translate) that there is still a significant gap between China's broadband coverage and that of developed nations, and that the lag is increasing.
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Chinese IT Ministry Looks Askance At Google's Control of Android
itwbennett writes "In what one expert is calling a clear message to China's tech industry that the authorities want to support a homegrown mobile operating system, China's tech regulator warns in a white paper that the country is becoming too dependent on Google's Android OS. 'Our country's mobile operating system research and development is heavily reliant on Android,' reads the white paper from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 'Although the Android system currently remains open source, the core technologies and technology roadmap is strictly controlled by Google.'"
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Tim Cook Meets With China Mobile, Says China Will Soon Become Apple’s Most Important Market
Tim Cook would like to get Apple on a faster boat to China. On his current visit to the country, it looks like the Apple CEO has focused on smoothing the rollout and distribution of Apple products there. In an interview with Chinese news site Sina (link via Google Translate), Cook said that he believes China will become Apple’s most biggest market in the “not too distant future.” He also sounded an optimistic note over his latest talk with China Mobile, but would not divulge further details about whether or not he has managed to ink a deal with the world’s largest carrier, which the Cupertino company has been stuck in negotiations with for years. Earlier this week, Cook also met with Miao Wei, minister of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the agency responsible for approving Apple products before their launch in that country. The China launch of Apple products lags significantly behind their U.S. debut, which is due in large part to the wait for approval ...
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Showdown Set On Bid To Give UN Control of Internet
wiredmikey writes "When delegates gather in Dubai in December for an obscure UN agency meeting, the mother of all cyber diplomatic battles is expected, with an intense debate over proposals to rewrite global telecom rules to effectively give the United Nations control over the Internet. Russia, China and other countries back a move to place the Internet under the authority of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a UN agency that sets technical standards for global phone calls. While US officials have said placing the Internet under UN control would undermine the freewheeling nature of cyberspace, some have said there is a perception that the US owns and manages the Internet. The head of the ITU, Hamadoun Toure, claims his agency has 'the depth of experience that comes from being the world's longest established intergovernmental organization.' But Harold Feld of the US-based non-government group Public Knowledge said any new rules could have devastating consequences. Some are ...
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