IT Buoy

From China Real Time Report : A group of Google Inc.’s partners in China have sent a letter to the Internet giant, saying their businesses are in jeopardy if Google closes its Chinese search engine and demanding to know how they will be compensated. The company said it received the letter and was reviewing it Tuesday. Our translation of the letter, e-mailed to Google Monday night, is below. (Not all the resellers listed as signatories in the letter had a part in drafting it, and each has a unique relationship under different terms with Google.) Associated Press Google China headquarters building in Beijing Dear Dr. Liu Yun (John Liu), Since Google’s chief legal officer announced on Google’s official blog back on Jan 13 that Google was considering pulling out of China, there has been an endless flow of rumors. Over the past two months, even during the Chinese traditional holiday — the Spring Festival Season, we were very restless, upset, and very worried. We see all kinds of news related to Google coming out, but cannot predict the future; we see our business volume declining dramatically, but feel powerless to stop it; and we see our employees leaving one after another, without being able to persuade them to stay. The only answers we get back from Google, and all that we can do, is to simply wait — wait in extreme pain, full of uncertainty

By Loretta Chao, Kersten Zhang and Sue Feng From China Real Time Report : China’s state-run broadcaster, China Central Television, published on its Web site Tuesday the text of a letter, claiming it was sent from a group of 27 Google advertising resellers to John Liu, who leads Google’s sales team and oversees the company’s business operations in greater China. AFP/Getty Images People use computers inside the Google China headquarters building in Beijing. The impassioned letter complains that Google has not given them guidance since its announcement in January that it may pull out of China, and says the companies have watched their business volume decline and have been powerless to stop it, and worry that they face bankruptcy if Google (GOOG) withdraws. After calling many of the companies listed as signatories of the letter, we couldn’t confirm its authenticity. If real, the letter offers one glimpse into how far-reaching a Google exit from China could be. “We understand that Google has its own values, but we cannot understand why, until this day, Google has not communicated with us how the matter will be solved, nor negotiated with us about” a solution, “especially when this involves tens of thousands of our customers, employees and investors’ interests,” the letter said. It added that most of the companies’ sales staff currently focus primarily on selling Google advertising, and that many of their customers have predeposited payments for Google’s ad services. The letter says the companies are demanding to know how they will be repaid for their lost investments, how customers will be compensated for their pre-payments if Google leaves China, and how Google will bear the responsibility of potentially massive layoffs.

By Loretta Chao and Sue Feng From China Real Time Report : Chinese authorities have been explicit and unwavering in their disapproval of Google’s threat to disobey their censorship regulations on its Chinese search site, Google.cn. The company will have to “bear the consequences” for making such an “irresponsible” move, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology said last week. Behind the scenes, however, there are signs that officials realize that their view on Google (GOOG) may not be superpopular. The Communist Party’s Propaganda Department issued requests to media outlets on Friday to halt their coverage of the possible closure of Google’s Chinese Web site, says a Chinese journalist familiar with the situation. Chinese news Web sites have also been told they will be required to use only official accounts of the situation if Google.cn is closed, another individual with knowledge of that order said . It’s not uncommon for propaganda authorities in China to give orders dictating the nature of news coverage on sensitive issues where they fear dissent. The fact that authorities have decided that Google’s situation should get that treatment suggests they know that many Chinese Internet users, tens of millions of whom are Google users, don’t see things the same way the government does. On Monday, coverage of Google in the Chinese media was scarce, apparently reflecting the government gag-order

In the latest tussle between Google and China, the country said that if search results weren’t filtered, a Google ban was imminent. Christine Glancey and Julia Angwin discuss on Digits. Follow @staceydelo on Twitter.

Tech Today gathers all the biggest technology news of the morning’s Wall Street Journal into one place for your reading pleasure. Google Prepares to Stop Censoring in China: Google could stop censoring its Web-search results in China within weeks, said people familiar with the matter, but the company isn’t likely to withdraw from the country entirely. Hearst Tries Hand at Apps: Hearst, best known as a publisher of magazines and newspapers, is jumping into the business of developing software applications, or “apps,” for use on Apple’s iPhone Pink Floyd Wins Downloads Suit: Britain’s High Court has ordered record company EMI to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band’s original albums. Motorola to Add Bing on Phones: Motorola agreed to add Microsoft’s Bing search and map capabilities on Motorola’s Google-based smart phones. Intel, AMD Set to Escalate Server Chip Fight: Intel and AMD are overhauling their lines of chips for server systems at a rare time—just as corporate customers’ appetite for new technology finally seems to be improving.