|
North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Bay Networks in bed with commie censors?
Paul Ferguson writes: > At 05:33 PM 1/15/97 -0800, Vadim Antonov wrote: > >The technology we're playing with lost it virginity years ago, and > >it is our duty to remember than it can be an immensely powerful tool > >in politics and military. We're not in a sandbox anymore. > > Not everything is a freeking conspiracy either. Vadim is making a reasonable point. Supplying technology to some countries is not a neutral act. Businesspeople must take this into account when doing business with such people. That said, let me mention a difficult conversation I had about a year and a half ago with a friend who works for Unnamed Large Company. It was of this form: "The PRC wants us to supply them with technology to censor their internet connections. Do I refuse on the basis that it is wrong to aid them in attempting to achieve their goal, or do I go along with it on the premise that they basically can't succeed in the end anyway and this will give them a false sense of security that will encourage them to link up the country?" I couldn't really answer well. These sorts of moral dillemas often have no good answer. I suspect, though, that Vadim's assumption that the folks at Bay proudly announcing their marketing coup probably had no such moral dillemas in mind when they made their decision. Make no mistake about it, by the way -- the government of the PRC isn't a friendly bunch of toddlers. Since it isn't clear that this will cause harm or good I'm not as clear on my reaction as Vadim was. Perry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|