Microsoft, Google, and others developing code of conduct

It's not often you see a group of companies like this working together on something, but Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Vodafone look to have put aside their differences and sat down with each other in an effort to address concerns of privacy rights and freedom of expression relating to their various business dealings (most prominently those with China), joining with a group of nongovernmental organizations to develop a code of conduct that each will follow when such issues arise. While there's no indication when the code of conduct will be finalized or go into effect, the groups working to develop it certainly lead quite a bit of credibility to it, with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, Business for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders all having a hand in its drafting. What's not so clear, however, is what, if any, consequences the companies would face should they violate the code, only that they'll be held "accountable for their actions."

[GTerribil @ Jan 19th 2007 5:11PM]

If only politics worked like this...

[Just.Rob @ Jan 19th 2007 5:44PM]

Wonder if it'll be an encrypted Code of Conduct or HTML...

If someone is accused of hacking the code... they should be subject to a two-week free trial by a network of their P2P's

They should set up a blog to post bail...

If they're convicted of a minor offense, they'll be given the free version of the house arrest automation program, Bation, however it's suggested that they upgrade to Pro...

If convicted of a serious offense, they should be sent to a 128-bit security prison and locked up in a Sony/Toshiba Cell...

Maybe if they volunteer to work in the prison laundry facilities, folding@home, they'll be considered for an early beta release for good behavior...

This could all be avoided however if they aren't read their User Rights seeing as that would corrupt all the data...

[potato @ Jan 19th 2007 5:19PM]

I hate to point fingers, but doesn't Google censor search results in China?

[birdman @ Jan 19th 2007 5:22PM]

the goverment forces the censorship, if google didnt, china would cut the site from being used

get money and censor
get no money and dont censor

for the company its a obvious answer

[Adam Pflug @ Jan 20th 2007 1:32AM]

Yes, but so did Yahoo and MSN. Google at least tells chinese users when results have been censored (much like they do for us. Search for kazaa and scroll to the bottom of the page)

[Robert Johnston @ Jan 19th 2007 7:33PM]

Actually, Google has less option than that:

* Censor (Detailing what has been censored and why) and make money

* Don't censor, don't make money, and be blocked by China's governmental proxy servers.

So, which would you prefer?

[kevin @ Jan 19th 2007 5:56PM]

i wonder if the code will be open source...

[planetmik @ Jan 19th 2007 6:04PM]

Its good to see that even four power houses of our capitalist culture can consider themselves at least accountable for the actions they take. This is step in the right direction right? "Working together for a better future"... or am i just too naive?

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Jan 19th 2007 6:55PM]

I was able to get the first draft of this code of conduct. They summarized it to one sentence in the name of the global oversimplification fad: "Do no evil... except when convenient."

Good job, guys!

[Mikeyg @ Jan 19th 2007 7:37PM]

although google does censor search results in china, it takes the positive step of telling people that the page is censored, rather than just returning a 404

[SINNACLE @ Jan 19th 2007 9:16PM]

but what about when the chinese search google for "democracy" and are instantly rerouted to selected sites that propagandize communism?

[urusei @ Jan 19th 2007 9:52PM]

Maybe I'm just a jaded sceptic, but this smells like bs to me. They'll be held "accountable for their actions." Yeah , right. This is just an attempt to get some good PR.

@birdman
Yeah, and what was Google's motto again?

Yahoo's practices are even worse than Google's censorship. It wasn't long ago that Yahoo gave information regarding a Chinese citizen who supported democracy and change in China to the Chinese government. Guess where he is now. Rotting in a Chinese prison or dead.

[nick @ Jan 19th 2007 11:54PM]

Forget the code of conduct, how about developing something that prevents spam?

[E71 @ Jan 21st 2007 5:32PM]

Anyone else wondering why the odd one out (Vodafone) is being mentioned in the same sentence as the big dogs? ...