Bill Gates: Internet censorship just won't work

BILL GATES: INTERNET CENSORSHIP JUST WON'T WORK
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Robert McMillan]
Efforts by countries like China to restrict the exchange of information on the Internet are ultimately doomed to failure, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told an audience of Stanford University students Tuesday. "I don't see any risk in the world at large that someone will restrict free content flow on the Internet," he said. "You cannot control the Internet." China has grappled with the issue of Internet censorship in recent years and Microsoft, along with several other U.S. companies, has come under fire for aiding in this effort. In late 2005, Microsoft shut down the blog of journalist Zhao Jing, also known as Michael Anti, when he blogged about a newspaper strike in the country. In the long run, however, free speech will win out, Gates said. That's because of business requirements. Restrictions on free speech will curtail business activity and so commercial forces will work against censorship, Gates said. "If your country wants to have a developed economy... you basically have to open up the Internet," he said.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/20/Bill-Gates-Internet-censorship...