decoyworker

The sooner that IBM and Oracle die the better.

I agree. The free-market did not work, time for regulations.

Violating terms or not- it's still a lot of power for Google to hold over a person and there should be some consumer protections for this.

Yeah, being left out of the models plays into the conspiracy factor. My father mentioned that climate scientists are shills knowingly leaving out this data.

Is there a way to get your data out if your account is suspended? In the very least there needs to be some recourse and a way for users to export their data if their account is suspended.

>legally demanded

Meaning whenever the hell they feel like it. From the outside looking in, one problem seems to be a lack of a legitimate legal framework. Is there truly law in China? In the US at least, companies can throw out illegitimate requests for information. Can you tell the Chinese government, "no" for any reason? Citizens in western Democracies regularly sue their own government and win.

This, "everyone does it" defense is bullshit.

My father has been going on about cloud coverage lately. The conspiracy being that they have a cooling effect and invalidate some liberal climate change agenda.

That's true. The Chinese government could just decide they do not like you and you have no recourse whatsoever. Good point.

They are seeking new revenue in the Chinese market. To them they see a minuscule boycott in the US as the cost of gaining that market- net positive.

How many people have died in these huge, violent and destructive protests that have been raging for months?

All your peers are doing it and improving their social credit scores. Do you want to fall behind your peers?

A lot of things are taxed multiple times. I pay income tax, then use that taxed income to purchase a vehicle which carries a sales tax, and for awhile I even paid a tax on the value of that car annually. Same money being taxed multiple times. All recurring property tax can be viewed this way.

Inheritance or gifts should absolutely be taxed as income to the person receiving.

Look at it this way- they basically are not allowed to say anything else. I pity them but at the same time I hope things improve for them.

Is China a more profitable market than the US? It's worrying that US companies are willing to go this far for foreign profit.