[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1512 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1512

   Commending Google Inc. and other companies for advocating for an 
 uncensored Internet, adhering to free speech principles, and keeping 
                 the Internet open for users worldwide.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2010

   Mrs. McCarthy of New York (for herself, Mr. Inglis, Mr. Moran of 
Virginia, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Mr. Welch, Ms. Kilroy, Mr. Boucher, 
 Mr. Foster, and Mr. Wu) submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Commending Google Inc. and other companies for advocating for an 
 uncensored Internet, adhering to free speech principles, and keeping 
                 the Internet open for users worldwide.

Whereas Google Inc. launched Chinese operations (Google.cn) in January 2006 with 
        the intentions of bringing about increased access to information to the 
        Chinese populace, knowing that it would need to carefully monitor 
        conditions in China that would pose restrictions on its services, and 
        believing that the benefits of its presence outweighed the company's 
        censorship concerns at the time;
Whereas in December 2009, Google Inc. discovered a sophisticated and deliberate 
        breach in its corporate infrastructure originating from China;
Whereas Google Inc., in the aftermath of the breach, has made a difficult 
        decision to review its business operations in China in light of 
        increasingly troubling trends in China that may threaten the ability to 
        further free speech and the company's security on the Internet;
Whereas Google Inc. has purposefully made this breach public in order to expose 
        the growing issue of censorship both in China and around the world;
Whereas Google Inc. has taken extraordinary steps to maintain freedom of speech 
        in China despite a breakdown of dialogue between the Government of China 
        and the company as a result of the December breach, including exploring 
        novel ways to maintain their license in China while remaining true to 
        their principles of an uncensored Internet;
Whereas while Google Inc. remains committed to providing an open and free 
        Internet to the Chinese people, it may consider pulling out of China if 
        it deems it no longer possible to provide an open and free Internet;
Whereas Go Daddy, the world's largest Internet domain registrar, citing similar 
        concerns over free speech and cybersecurity, has decided to stop 
        providing new address registration services for China's domestic domain; 
        and
Whereas Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., and other United States 
        companies have led anti-censorship efforts and joined human rights 
        organizations, socially responsible investors, and academics in January 
        2009 to establish the Global Network Initiative to lay out a detailed 
        set of principles and guidelines, which outline how companies and groups 
        should respond to government censorship attempts or attempts by 
        governments to request personally identifiable information of users: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports and commends Google Inc. and other companies 
        for advocating for an uncensored Internet, adhering to free 
        speech principles, and keeping the Internet open for users 
        worldwide;
            (2) encourages other companies and institutions to protect 
        freedom of speech and monitor cybersecurity issues around the 
        world by encouraging their participation in the Global Network 
        Initiative, a model collaborative group that aims to promote 
        free expression and protect privacy on the Internet; and
            (3) calls on the President, Secretary of State, and the 
        U.S. Trade Representative to make Internet access for lawful 
        uses an important part of U.S. foreign policy.
                                 <all>