China, ‘splain!

Sounds as though the state department is going to ask China explain the seemingly government-led attacks on Google’s servers.

If it is in fact true that China is behind the attacks, it really puts the US government in a difficult position. It has not defended companies like Google from legal attacks (such as demands to remove materials such as hate speech from searches), yet a “black hat hacker” attack on Google’s servers seems somehow different. I’m thinking hard of a case where an American company has come under attack, only to have the executive branch come to the rescue.

Let me know if I’m missing something.

via AFP: US to formally ask China for explanation on cyber-attacks.