Chinese Minister Hints At Consequences For Google

Despite weeks of talks that have supposedly taken place behind closed doors, the Chinese government still seems unwilling to compromise with respect to Google and censorship.  Indeed, it may be growing hostile, as a minister talked about "consequences" today.

The BBC reported that Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong adopted a tough stance during a legislation session.  "I hope that Google will abide and respect the Chinese government's laws and regulations," he said.  "But, if you betray Chinese laws and regulations . . . it means that you are unfriendly, irresponsible, and you will have to pay the consequences."

As for what those consequences might be, it almost sounds as if China's ready to force Google out of the country whether it wants to leave or not.  The Chinese official stated at one point, "[W]hat needs to be shut down will be shut down, what needs to be blocked will be blocked."

This is less than good news for anyone who was hoping Google would be able to keep operating in China.  Considering that Eric Schmidt recently said "something will happen soon," it may even represent the end of the road, rather than just another outburst of rhetoric.

Or not.  Investors on both sides have failed to flinch, with Google's and Baidu's stocks up about equal amounts so far today.

Schmidt On China: “Something Will Happen Soon”

Two Google executives have again assured onlookers that the company is dealing with the situation in China.  While in Abu Dhabi, Eric Schmidt indicated today that something will happen sooner rather than later, and Nicole Wong told politicians in D.C. that leaving China is still an option.

Unfortunately, not a lot of other details and/or promises were forthcoming.  Eric Schmidt's exact words, according to Jerry Dicolo, were "something will happen soon," and whether that's "soon" as a five-year-old would perceive it or in terms of continental drift is hard to say.

We should note: it's already been almost two months since Google stated in an official blog post, "[O]ver 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."

As for what Nicole Wong, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at the company, had to say, there was less wiggle room.  The AFP reports that she maintained, "We are not going to change our decision on not censoring results anymore."  Also, with respect to abandoning the country, Wong added, "We are prepared to do that."

Google and Baidu investors are sure to remain on pins and needles until the situation is resolved.

Google Takes Popular Email App from iPhone For Itself

The competition between Google and Apple appears to be getting fiercer by the day. Google has now acquired popular iPhone app reMail, and has discontinued it in Apple's App Store, and most likely offer it in the Android Market (although this has not been confirmed).

reMail was created by a former Google employee, who used to work as a software engineer on Gmail. "Gmail is where my obsession with email started as an engineering intern back in 2004, and I'm thrilled to be coming back to a place with so many familiar faces," Remail creator Gabor Cselle says on his blog. "reMail's goal was reimagine mobile email, and I'm proud we have built a product that so many users find useful."

Although reMail has been removed from Apple's App store, those who have already downloaded will continue to be able to use it. Support will be continued through March.

"We've enabled all paid reMail features for you: You can activate these by clicking 'Restore Purchases' inside the app," explains Cselle. "reMail downloads email directly from your email provider to your phone, and your personal information, passwords, and email are never sent to or stored on our servers."

This week at Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stressed the importance of mobile to Google's strategy. This acquisition, which some have considered to be a slap to Apple's face, is only the latest piece in that puzzle. It will be interesting to see if Google goes after any more apps from Apple's store. The company has certainly been in the mood for acquisitions. Just last week, the company acquired social Q&A site Aardvark.

Vodafone CEO Warns Of Google Dominance

The world's second largest mobile operator is not pleased with Google's dominance in the search and advertising market.  In fact, Vodafone's CEO implied in a recent speech that regulators might want to act sooner rather than later to prevent an irreversible monopoly from forming.

According to Michelle Donegan, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao showed during his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress that many companies compete within different parts of the mobile sphere.  Then he presented a slide related to search and advertising with just Google's and Yahoo's names on it.

Colao stated at that point, "In search and advertising management, there is 70 percent to 80 percent, maybe more, concentration [of players].  From a policy perspective, this should be looked into.  We need to ensure choice and avoid concentration before it's too late."

This could be bad news for Google.  Colao's corporation isn't some small firm with a skewed view of the market (it has a market cap of $115 billion and owns 45 percent of Verizon), and his decision to criticize the search giant at such a public moment indicates that he's quite serious about taking it down a couple of notches.

As for Google's side of things, Eric Schmidt is supposed to speak later today at the Mobile World Congress, so we may get to hear an executive-level rebuttal.

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