Good For Google

Displaying more backbone than apparently exists in the Oval Office, Google has thrown down the gauntlet in China because of hacking -

In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

. . . we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. ...

Google may leave the country over the issue -

We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The article at Powerline concludes this way -

Not much to say about this except good for Google. Also, it's a reminder that the Chinese government continues to pursue its interests, however illegitimate they may be, with a seriousness that we seem increasingly unable to imagine, let alone match.

Is the Obama administration paying attention?