NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Kazakhstan orders Google to operate google.kz on physical servers inside the country
Kazakhstan orders Google to operate google.kz on physical servers
inside the country
http://j.mp/lRns47 (This message on Google Buzz)
- - -
http://j.mp/iF2eUw (Google Public Policy Blog)
"We find ourselves in a difficult situation: creating borders on the
web raises important questions for us not only about network
efficiency but also about user privacy and free expression. If we were
to operate google.kz only via servers located inside Kazakhstan, we
would be helping to create a fractured Internet. So we have decided to
redirect users that visit google.kz to google.com in Kazakh."
- - -
Kazakhstan's demand is unreasonable from both technical and public
policy standpoints, as far as I'm concerned. Google's response is
utterly appropriate and clearly the best available choice to serve
users in Kazakhstan under these conditions.
However, it seems reasonable to assume that the Kazakhstan
government's motivations for such an order -- that would have given
them physical access to Google server infrastructure -- may not be
indefinitely mollified by this approach, which does not permit that
government the "hands on" access to surveil and control user data
that, one suspects at least, may represent a significant aspect of the
related authorities' underlying agendas.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://j.mp/laurenbuzz
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com