A Couple of Followups

This morning, I'm off to Seattle for a photographic seminar. I decided to stay over tonight since the seminar does not end until 10:30 this evening. I booked my hotel through HotWire.com, a company I recommended to you in yesterday's blog on travel.

With their help, I booked a room at the SeaTac DoubleTree Hotel for $48. After booking it, I decided to check on what I could get the room for using both Orbitz.com and Hotels.com. Both sites offered me that same hotel for $159 per night. Quite a savings, I would say, using Hotwire. Just thought you might like to know.

Google Has China Problems

In a followup to my blog on how American companies are helping the government of China censor the Web, it turns out that the Chinese government is now investigating Google for not having a license to operate in China. On Tuesday, the Beijing News noted that Google.cn does not have the legitimate Internet content provider (ICP) license required of all Chinese-hosted Internet sites. Rather, the service seems to be sharing an ICP license with Ganji.com, a Chinese information Web site.

According to the article, "(Google.cn) has not obtained the ICP (Internet content provider) license needed to operate Internet content services in China. "Without a license, foreign capital is not allowed to engage in telecom business, including ICP operations."

Google disputes such characterizations. The company insists its Chinese operations are properly credentialed and that sharing an ICP license with a PRC company is a practice followed by many international companies operating in China. The Ministry of Information Industry, which regulates China's Internet, was "concerned" and investigating the problem, the newspaper said.

You would think that the Chinese would be rushing to Google with a license for all the help the company has given them in censoring the Internet. Instead, they attack them through the tightly controlled Beijing press. Hmmmm.

I am reminded of a quote from Shakespeare, "He must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil."