No Backbone As Google Bows To Korean Government And Bans Users With Fake Names

http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2009/04/no_backbone_as.php

by Mgreen • 17 years ago

19 6 17 years ago

"What's the point in Google portraying itself as company with strong principles when it won't stand up and defend them? What would it be losing if it refused?"

jrockway2• 17 years ago

This is indeed odd. youtube.kr is a US-based website hosted in the US. I don't see how Korea thinks it has jurisdiction over all websites using korean characters. (If they can demand that youtube.kr require real names, why can't they demand that youtube.com require that? I can log into youtube.kr with my .com account, which is definitely not using my real name. In fact, I am automatically logged in.)

If I were less cynical I would make some comment about this being an April Fool's joke... but it's probably not.

BobbyH• 17 years ago

South Korea does have the power to regulate youtube.kr. This is because .kr is a country code top-level domain and the registry for .kr domains is the National Internet Development Agency of Korea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Internet_Development_A...). There are restrictions placed on .kr domains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.kr) such as a requirement to have a local presence in South Korea, etc.

This gives South Korea power to affect youtube.kr. South Korea has no direct power to regulate youtube.com, although it would have indirect power to regulate youtube.com in South Korea via its power to threaten Google that it can take away the youtube.kr domain.

ComputerGuru• 17 years ago

So screw South Korea.

I mean, China we can understand. That's a sixth of the world's population so even if their policies are absolutely retarded; there's some sense to Google listening to them in so much as it affects the rest of the world.

But South Korea?

jacoblyles• 17 years ago

"we have a responsibility to protect your privacy and security" is compatible with forcing users to use real names. It is not compatible with disclosing private data that the user has entrusted to you.

No Backbone As Google Bows To Korean Government And Bans Users With Fake Names

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