Linked Out? China blocks access to LinkedIn!
Users in China say that the professional networking company, LinkedIn, has been blocked throughout the country. LinkedIn is aware of the blockage and is in the process of further investigations. According to LinkedIn’s Press Center, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, California with operations in in Dublin, Ireland; London, England; Toronto, Canada; Mumbai, India; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Sydney, Australia.
China, never a friend of international copyright law, apparently maintains its “Great Firewall” (Green Dam Net) with code that was copied, wholesale, from software written by a U.S. security firm, “warts and all” with vulnerabilities that make the software easier to hack!
The shutdown occurs after calls for a “Jasmine Revolution” in China, following the examples of Tunisia and Egypt. Of course, Facebook and Twitter have already been blocked, but LinkedIn is fully integrated with Twitter! Support for this idea of the Chinese blocking LinkedIn to block Twitter is the censoring of the name of U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman from search results on two very popular Twitter and Tumblr clones in China.
Interestingly, Reuters reports that the LinkedIn outage could hurt the company’s chance at an IPO!
I find the Reuter’s statement amusing, along with comments about ways that the LinkedIn blockage could affect investors . 
China has become a major market for U.S. goods (“GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy.“) Why not? China [1] has become a major recipient of outsourced U.S. jobs.
The callousness of investors ignoring things like major human rights violations in China and violations of international copyright law, in order to make a “fast buck,” reminds me of U.S. companies that supported the Nazis in World War II (1, 2).
China is also, of course the country to which much U.S. debt is owed and the country behind cyberattacks on Google, Adobe, and 32 other, less forthcoming, Silicon Valley companies that would like to pretend that they are more competent than they actually are. Oh yeah, they all used Windows, but Google, at least, has learned from its mistake.
As with Google’s continuing adventures with China, we will have to watch the course that LinkedIn weaves in its dance with the waking Dragon.
-Bill at
Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”
You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.
