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This news from Yahoo:

Google to end China censorship after e-mail breach

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke, Ap Technology Writer – 1 hr 26 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. will stop censoring its search results in China and may pull out of the country completely after discovering that computer hackers had tricked human-rights activists into exposing their e-mail accounts to outsiders.

The change of heart announced Tuesday heralds a major shift for the Internet’s search leader, which has repeatedly said it will obey Chinese laws requiring some politically and socially sensitive issues to be blocked from search results available in other countries. The acquiescence had outraged free-speech advocates and even some shareholders, who argued Google’s cooperation with China violated the company’s “don’t be evil” motto.

The criticism had started to sway Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who openly expressed his misgivings about the company’s presence in China.

But the tipping point didn’t come until Google recently uncovered hacking attacks launched from within China. The apparent goal: gathering personal information about dozens of human rights activists trying to shine a light on the country’s censorship and other secretive policies.

Google officials said they plan to talk to the Chinese government to determine if there is a way the company can still provide unfiltered search results in the country. If an agreement can’t be worked out, Google is prepared to leave China four years after creating a search engine bearing China’s Web suffix, “.cn” to put itself in a better position to profit from the world’s most populous country.

“The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences,” David Drummond, Google’s top lawyer, wrote in a Tuesday blog posting.

A spokesman for the Chinese consulate in San Francisco had no immediate comment.

Abandoning China wouldn’t put a big dent in Google’s earnings, although it could crimp the company’s growth as the country’s Internet usage continues to rise. Google, based in Mountain View, said its Chinese operations account for an “immaterial” amount of its roughly $22 billion in annual revenue.

Although Google’s search engine is the most popular worldwide, it’s a distant second in China, where the homegrown Baidu.com processes more than 60 percent of all requests.

Free-speech and human rights groups are hoping Google’s about-face will spur more companies to take a similar stand.

“Google has taken a bold and difficult step for Internet freedom in support of fundamental human rights,” said Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy & Technology, a civil-liberties group in Washington. “No company should be forced to operate under government threat to its core values or to the rights and safety of its users.”

It’s “an incredibly significant move,” said Danny O’Brien, international outreach coordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet rights group in San Francisco. “This changes the game because the question won’t be ‘How can we work in China?’ but ‘How can we create services that Chinese people can use, from outside of China?’”

Google’s new stance on China was triggered by a sophisticated computer attack orchestrated from within the country. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., praised Google for disclosing chicanery that “raises serious national security concerns.”

Without providing details, Google said it and at least 20 other major companies from the Internet, financial services, technology, media and chemical industries were targeted. The heist lifted some of Google’s intellectual property but didn’t get any information about the users of its services, the company said. Google has passed along what it knows so far to U.S. authorities and other affected companies.

The assault on Google appeared primarily aimed at breaking into the company’s e-mail system, “Gmail,” in an attempt to pry into the accounts of human right activists protesting the Chinese government’s policies.

Only two e-mail accounts were infiltrated in these attacks, Google said, and the intruders were only able to see subject lines and the dates that the individual accounts were created. None of the content written within the body of the e-mails leaked out, Google said.

As part of its investigation into that incident, Google stumbled onto another scam that was more successful. Google said dozens of activists fighting the Chinese government’s policies fell prey to ruses commonly known as “phishing” or malware. The victims live in the United States, Europe and China, Google said.

Phishing involves malicious e-mails urging the recipients to open an attachment or visit a link that they’re conned into believing comes from a friend or legitimate company. Clicking on a phishing link of installs malware — malicious software — on to computers.

Once it’s installed on a computer, malware can be used as a surveillance tool that can obtain passwords and unlock e-mail accounts.

Google’s unfettered search results won’t necessarily ensure more information will be made available to the average person in China because the government could still use its own filtering tools, said Clothilde Le Coz, Washington director for Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group.

“The Chinese government is one of the most efficient in terms of censoring the Web,” she said.

__

AP Technology Writers Barbara Ortutay in New York, Jessica Mintz in Seattle and Jordan Robertson in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Another related Google’s official blog as the following:

A new approach to China
1/12/2010 03:00:00 PM
Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident–albeit a significant one–was something quite different.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses–including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.

We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this U.S. government report (PDF), Nart Villeneuve’s blog and this presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.

We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China’s economic reform programs and its citizens’ entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.”

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

In the United States:

Thanksgiving is observed on the every fourth Thursday of November. The holiday is celebrated in remembrance of the pilgrims and in order to give thanks.

2007-Thursday, November 22nd
2008-Thursday, November 27th
2009-Thursday, November 26th
2010-Thursday, November 25th
2011-Thursday, November 24th

In Canada:

The Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of the month (the reason for the earlier date in October is their earlier harvest occurring farther to the north).

The Canadian holiday comes from different traditions although it is now meant to convey thanks for their harvest.

2007-Monday, October 8th
2008-Monday, October 13th
2009-Monday, October 12th
2010-Monday, October 11th
2011-Monday, October 10th

Alibaba.com to Buy Controlling Interest in HiChina, China’s Leading Internet Infrastructure Service Provider
Published: 28 Sep 2009 01:54:40 PST

Acquisition enhances Alibaba.com’s ability to provide

additional Internet infrastructure services and

to assist small businesses entering e-commerce

HONG KONG, September 28, 2009 – Alibaba.com (HKSE: 1688.HK) (HK.1688) has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire China Civilink (Cayman), which operates in China as HiChina Web Solutions, for a total consideration of RMB539.98 million (US$79.06 million) in cash upon completion of two phases.  HiChina, www.net.cn, is a leading provider of Internet infrastructure services in China, including domain name services, web and server hosting services, email hosting services and website design and development services.
 
With the acquisition of HiChina, Alibaba.com gains four key assets: a new, large customer base; new, value-added applications; advanced and automated “do it yourself” Web site technology; and a strong management and operating team.  Regarding the customers, a majority of HiChina’s more than 200,000 customers do not overlap with the existing Alibaba.com customer base, allowing for increased synergy and opportunities across both HiChina and Alibaba.com.

From an application and technology perspective, the acquisition adds to Alibaba.com’s platform for helping small businesses move beyond “Meet at Alibaba” to “Work at Alibaba” by taking advantage of technology offerings and value-added services that enable entrepreneurs to open online businesses more easily.  Through the realization of “Work at Alibaba,” entrepreneurs and businesses will gain access to the necessary tools and features to operate and manage their business online through the Alibaba.com platform.

“Our vision is to make it easy for customers to do business anywhere by solving their challenges in procurement, sales, management and financing through technological upgrades, thereby raising their competitiveness and realizing industry advancement,” said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com. “When we went public, we set on a course to seek investment opportunities to grow our customer base and acquire additional technology and new applications to achieve our vision. HiChina is a strategic fit with that vision. With the support of the seasoned and highly capable executive team at HiChina, I am confident that our complementary businesses will create synergy and expedite our transformation from ‘Meet at Alibaba’ to ‘Work at Alibaba.’”

“We identify with Alibaba.com’s vision of serving the e-commerce infrastructure needs of customers so they can more effectively ‘Work at Alibaba,’ said Xiandong Zhang, founder, president and CEO of HiChina.  “We are impressed by Alibaba.com’s technology capability, vast customer reach and management team, all of which will enhance the capability of HiChina to serve customers as a new arm of Alibaba.com’s expanding footprint.”

HiChina’s product offering will become part of Alibaba.com’s Information Technology Business Unit (ITBU), which is focused on providing small businesses with a comprehensive solution to challenges that arise from the implementation of hardware, software and Internet-based services as well as IT maintenance.

According to the terms of the deal, Alibaba.com will acquire 85 percent of HiChina for a cash consideration of RMB435.42 million (US$63.75 million) with an additional 14.67 percent retained by the founders of HiChina, who will continue to be involved in daily management of the company.  Dependent upon HiChina reaching certain performance targets, the founders of HiChina have an option to sell their 14.67 percent equity interest in HiChina to Alibaba.com over the next three years for an additional consideration of RMB104.56 million (US$15.31 million) in cash.

To further incentivize the founders and key employees to continue contributing to the success of HiChina after the acquisition, Alibaba.com has also agreed, among other things, to transfer certain shares of HiChina held by Alibaba.com to the management and key employees of HiChina pursuant to earn-in arrangements, subject to their meeting certain post-completion performance milestones during 2011 to 2015.  If all the performance milestones are 100 percent met and not exceeded, the number of Earn-in Shares to be transferred over a five-year period will amount to a total of a 15 percent equity interest in HiChina.  If any or all of the performance milestones are exceeded, the percentage of equity interest to be transferred will correspondingly increase, subject to certain limits and restrictions.

The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year.  After the closing, HiChina, with more than 550 employees, will become a subsidiary of Alibaba.com and will retain its own brand name and operations.

Rothschild was the financial adviser to Alibaba.com for this transaction.

For more information on this announcement, see Alibaba.com’s filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at http://ir.alibaba.com/.

Note: All US dollar conversions are based on an exchange rate of USD1.00=RMB6.83

About Alibaba.com Limited
Alibaba.com Limited (HKSE: 1688.HK) (HK.1688) is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and the flagship company of Alibaba Group. Founded in 1999, Alibaba.com makes it easy for millions of buyers and suppliers around the world to do business online through three marketplaces: a global trade marketplace (www.alibaba.com) for importers and exporters, a Chinese marketplace (www.alibaba.com.cn) for domestic trade in China, and, through an associated company, a Japanese marketplace (www.alibaba.co.jp) facilitating trade to and from Japan. Together, its marketplaces form a community of more than 42 million registered users from more than 240 countries and regions. The company also offers business management software solutions targeting small businesses across China under the “Alisoft” brand. Founded in Hangzhou, China, Alibaba.com has offices in more than 40 cities across Greater China as well as in Europe and the United States.

About HiChina
HiChina, Founded in 1996, is the leading Internet application service provider in China. HiChina is devoted to providing comprehensive Internet application services to businesses, which covers domain services, hosting services, email systems, Web site creation, as well as consultation services for E-commerce to assist businesses in applying E-commerce to their business. Having established a strong position in the Internet infrastructure industry in China, HiChina currently serves more than 200,000 paying enterprise members.

Let’s learning sth. about Google Apps Authorized Reseller Program

What is the Google Apps Authorized Reseller program and how does it work?

Take a look at the short video for a program overview. Then browse this web site for more on the business opportunity, the program requirements and benefits, and the roles you and Google play in the customer relationship. If this all sounds right, then get started by applying here.

Can we make money? Since Google Apps is so affordable for our clients, doesn’t that mean less margin for us?

While the per user list price of Google Apps is likely much lower than the cost of your clients’ existing systems, that doesn’t mean a lower total margin for you. The change in paradigm to SaaS and the constant incremental improvements from Google mean a wealth of new recurring revenue opportunities for resellers, integrators and other solution providers.

Businesses of all sizes are looking into how these products can best fit into and enhance how they work. From business process consulting on Google Apps adoption, to worry-free management of the application services, to comprehensive end user and administrator support &ndashh; deep knowledge of our product and interfaces will offer you new revenue opportunities at a fraction of the overhead cost you’re accustomed to. Also deployment, data migration, change management, and systems integration projects should fit into your business just as they do today. In fact, because Google Apps is so affordable, customers have more budget for additional valuable services from you.

More…

Google AdSense

The AdSense account interface is temporarily unavailable due to system maintenance. AdSense is expected to be down from approximately 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time on September 12, 2009. Please note that your earnings will continue to be tracked as normal, and your ad targeting will not be affected during this downtime. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Bing’s background Picture today is the picture of a teacher is teaching students in a “YaoDong” (a cave house in ShanXi Province China). You see there are still some hard teaching and learning environments in China even most of students have much better learning schools. But those teachers and students in China never or seldom complained. All they needs are teaching and learning.

We love our teachers, teacher loves their students. We hope China will be richer and be able to provide good school buildings and classrooms.

Report from here:

Google is continuing to bleed high-level executives and, this time, it is Google China’s turn. The Internet giant has announced that the company’s Head of Operations in the country, Kai-Fu Lee, will resign from his position to pursue other interests. Two executives in the company will take over Lee’s roles, Boon-Lock Yeo, who is now working as director of Google’s Shanghai engineering office, will take over the engineering department, and John Liu, VP of sales and operations, will assume the business and operations side.

“Kai-Fu has made an enormous contribution to Google over the last four years — helping dramatically to improve the quality and range of services that we offer in China and ensuring that we continue to innovate on the Web for the benefit of users and advertisers,” Alan Eustace, senior VP of engineering, says in a statement.

Lee joined Google in 2005, after leaving Microsoft’s operations in the country. This prompted Microsoft to file a suit against Lee and Google for allegedly breaching a one-year agreement that prevented him to work for a competitor. Google then filed a countersuit in a Californian court. The two companies settled in December 2005, without disclosing the terms of the agreement.

At Google China, Lee worked to establish the company in the market and has seen it grow at a very healthy pace for the past years. He was also responsible for launching the Google.cn website, the search engine’s regional version, while also strengthening the company’s team of engineers and scientists in the country. Still, Google is far behind the country’s number-one search engine, Baidu, and has also been criticized for complying with the government’s censorship requests.

“With a very strong leadership team in place, it seemed a very good moment for me to move to the next chapter in my career,” Lee shares in a statement. He will go on to start his own company in an unspecified field.