> > I know Google must have relationships with high level officials in the > > Chinese gov't and could use influence to make sure GAE never gets > > blocked. > > Why do you think that is true?
I've been in China for almost 2 years now, and while I am no expert on the country, I have a good idea of how things work here. The reason I'm pretty sure Google has high level contacts in the Chinese gov't is because I'm pretty sure EVERY major multi-national operating in China has a relationship with the gov't. Foreigners can't just show up over here and set up shop. There is a mind numbing bureacracy that controls everything and the way to make things happen isn't necessarily through direct bribery, but through personal relationships with local officials. Expensive dinners and nights singing kareoke are what makes world work. There is no doubt Google as well as every other company making big bets on China frequently interact Chinese officials. I'm sure this is especially true in the realm of the GFW (Great Firewall), where Google must agree to play by the local rules or get shut off altogether. Even the contents of this post, if were in Chinese, would be grounds for blocking. The only problem is that the people deciding what gets blocked have absolutely no concern for a group of coders working on their own personal projects. As crazy as it may seem, the best way for those of in China to be able to develop for GAE without getting blocked is most likely someone from Google going out for a night of drinking and kareoke with someone that controls what gets blocked. >> I've never once had problems getting on Baidu.com, so there must be a way to make sure it won't be blocked. > > Baidu.com is a Chinese company, headquartered in China. Why would you > think that Baidu's relationship with the Chinese government has > anything to do with Google's relationship? Because Baidu and Google are the #1 and #2 (in that order) most popular search engines in China. They both have a relationship with the gov't, and it seems that Baidu's is stronger because they never get blocked. Now, I also know that the gov't will usually support local companies against foreign compitition. Also, since Baidu is Chinese they are most likely more self policiing when it come to objectionable content, and they certainly don't have any kind "don't be evil" clauses in their mission statement. For these reasons Baidu has a natural advantage in not getting blocked. But seeing that Google is a major player in Chinese internet search business, it seems like they would be doing more to make sure their site, including GAE, is 100% usable, all the time, no questions asked. If it doesn't have that, then I can't base a business aimed at the Chinese on GAE, which I find incredibly dissappointing, because so far GAE looks really cool. On Mar 19, 7:59 am, Andy Freeman <ana...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > On Mar 18, 4:26 am, John C <johnmcourt...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > GAE Team: > > > I am a developer considering using AppEngine for a new web based > > business aimed at the Chinese market. I've recently spent a lot of > > time getting up to speed on Python and learning absolutely everything > > about AppEngine so can I dive head first into building my app, which I > > expect to take several months. GAE seems pretty awesome and I can't > > wait to get going. > > > However in the last few days access in Guangzhou, China (where I > > live) has been spotty, I assume because the gov't is for whatever > > reason is blocking the GAE IP addresses. Should my app become popular > > I was hoping to turn it into my primary source of income. Given the > > problems recently, it seems like I might not be able to use GAE. If > > have a lot of users who depend on my site to do mission critical > > business (which is what cloud computing is all about!), and then one > > day I wake up to find GAE is arbitrarily blocked, that would be > > disastrous. > > > I know Google must have relationships with high level officials in the > > Chinese gov't and could use influence to make sure GAE never gets > > blocked. I've never once had problems getting on Baidu.com, so there > > must be a way to make sure it won't be blocked. I'm from America and > > I know we never think about these kind of issues, but over here its a > > complete reality, and now for me its turned into a business > > decision. > > > What gaurantee do I have that GAE won't be blocked in the future? > > Should I use it to build a web based business? > > > Thanks! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google App Engine" group. To post to this group, send email to google-appengine@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to google-appengine+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
