Mallard Fillmore via Seattle-PI: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp?date=20050807

Let me get this out of the way: my comments on this post are my comments. They have nothing to do with my current employer nor any of my past employers – these comments are my own.. The comic references is the one from Aug-07; I would have linked to the image itself, but it seems to be behind some time of lame web/cookie access protection… Feh. This post won’t make much sense unless you see it, so click through and then you’ll see why I had the need to vent about it.

What happens when ideology is blind to good business sense…

I guess it’s self explanatory, actually. To me, ideology is best described as holding a blind belief in something. And then holding onto that believe in defiance of logic, in spite of practical decisions, and in some cases, acting in a way that is completely against what common sense would dictates. Zealots that kill abortion doctors because killing [babies/fetuses] is wrong: steeped in ideology. Many levels to it, of course; the previous example is a just a handy extreme. Hippies on a commune with no locked doors [or tents] because they believe that no human will ever steal: tell tale sign of an idealist. People that refuse a life-saving blood transfusion because it flies in the face of a religious belief: ideology squared off against science (and common sense, in my book, but whatever).

Enter the comic above. The artist? Pushing an ideological idea through this week’s strip. Do I agree with the point he’s making? Not particularly. In some ways, I’m in shock that a government would want to censor or limit their citizen’s access to the far-reaching Internet… of course, our own Internet access is censored, right? Whoa, ain’t this America?! We don’t have “free” access to the ‘net? No. I mean, we can’t go posting whatever we want. There’s laws against certain types of images or content. And I support them, be it porn or warez, or whatever. Not every nation has laws for that, but we do. And so, then, what makes this type of censorship different?

Ideology. Bruce Tinsley seems to be pissed off that freedom, democracy, and human rights will be blocked – by the request of Chinese government – by Chinese-centric search engines that are hosted by Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google. He goes on to say that all three companies lack integrity for complying with the requests of the Chinese government.

Dude. A customer is requesting a feature in their software.

Is it a bad feature? Sure, I think it is. But how can I say that for sure? I mean, I’ve been forced to make feature changes that I thought were the most asinine thing in the world… sometimes I was right and other times I was wrong. It happens often enough in software; all users have feature requests at one time or another.

Does it some how oppress the Chinese people? Who am I – or Bruce – to say so? If you compare the request to what we’ve experienced in US law, then yes, it’s oppressive. Sorta. Again, we don’t have completely unregulated access to the ‘net. I sure as hell can’t set up a casino on my home server or spit out a jukebox of music or a home film store without getting in trouble [by the RIAA] for it. Yet, I can exercise some form of freedom of speech. I say some, because my hosting company has the right to monitor my site. As can my ISP. As can your ISP. I can still search MSN for whatever I want, though, and if I was told I couldn’t, yes, that would feel very oppressive to me, as an American.

But the request is for China, not America. Different culture, Bruce. Did the MGM Grand [in Las Vegas] change their entire facade when Japanese customers told them that they’d never enter their hotel if they had to walk under a lion? Yes they did, because it was a business decision. In some Asian cultures, walking under a lion is godzilla times worse than walking under a ladder. Why do most Asian guests refuse to stay in a hotel room on the 4th floor? Extremely unlucky number. In fact, some buildings in Asia skip 4 and 4x numbers altogether… and then pay extra for 13, as that’s a very lucky number. For China, red is a lucky color and common for weddings; white is a proper color for funeral guests.

Does it mean that Israel should want to block out any Arabic words from their version of the search engine? Or that Germany should want to block out anything Holocaust or Nazi related? Japan block out the Fifteen Years War? The French anything related to America? I’d hate to see it. I really would! I think it would crush the spirit of the Internet for those citizens. But, aren’t they customers? Don’t software companies have obligations to their customers? Especially when a nation is both the largest growing consumer market and one of the most populated?

I mean, why piss them off for something that shouldn’t be a huge deal for their culture. If someone in China wants to search on a “forbidden” word, they can still go to the .com site rather than the .cn [or .hk] site, no? How is it our place to impose our ideals on another nation via a product that they are asking for? I mean, did we have to put on brown shirts when we drove a Fiats in America? Do we have to pledge allegiance to a Columbian flag for drinking coffee? Express support for the People’s Republic of China, when we eat an egg roll? I sure as hell don’t have to wear a kimono when I watch anime…

It’s a mountain out of a mole hill.

And another thing… where’s the “oh dear god, our kids are going to be influenced!” cry over stuff like this from sensative parents and the media??? Hot coffee a problem? Hah! In a paper that’s “geared towards kids” you’ll find left and right wing views being pushed on children, yet no one gives a damn. Doonesbury is pointedly left wing, fine, but what about that smiling dancing cigarette that’s back on the scene? Kids can’t figure out that pixel sex is a video game but they’re supposed to figure out the subtle sarcasm and humor of the typical Doonesbury strip? Or Sherman’s Lagoon? What about the racial tones of The Boondocks? I mean, I love the freakin’ strip, but it’s still pretty edgy. Makes me laugh, though. But for kids? Is that “proper” that some of the characters bash white culture? Speaking of, I’m looking forward to their cartoon that’s coming up, but that’s another story.

No, I don’t think the comics need changing. No, I don’t want a crusade against Gary Trudeau, either. I wouldn’t change these things; I don’t want them to change! I’m just pointing out the fact that it’s extremely hypocritical to put on a white sheet and hood to go storm an Irish gaming company because of the whole “virtual sex” bullshit and use the claim of “we’re trying to keep kids safe!”. Here’s a long standing domestic example of how kids could be “corrupted” by influences beyond parents’ control, yet no one says a damned word about it.

.. if anything, I’m sure the media supports it somehow, because it carries their views along for the ride…

Bah.

So many fuckin things wrong with this, I’m leaving it at that.