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But China could start to see some pushback from the business and academiccommunity over the increased censorship,Hom said. Last month, Google accusedthe Chinese government of blockingGmail after users had complained forweeks. The search engine company saidthe blocking was designed to make itlook like the access problems were comingfrom Google.“You are getting some companies likeGoogle to go public by speaking out,”Hom said. “Google is exercising leadershipin this public arena, saying that thisis a serious problem.”China’s Foreign Ministry has deniedGoogle’s accusation. A Foreign Ministryspokeswoman said she had no commenton the blocking of VPNs because she didnot fully understand the situation. Butshe added China’s Internet is open andoperates according to the law. 3China’s Baidu testing newWeb browserThe Chinese search engine giant would be one of several domesticcompanies in the country with its own Web browserBy Michael Kan, IDG News Service (Beijing Bureau)China’s largest search engine,Baidu, is developing its ownWeb browser in an effort to cementits hold over the country’s Internetmarket.Baidu has begun testing an early betaversion of the product within the company,according to an industry sourcefamiliar with the browser. The browseris built to be integrated with the company’ssearch applications. Baidu has alsoincorporated its “box computing” strategyinto the design, a concept which allowsusers to not only search for results,but also execute commands likelaunching an application in thebrowser, or directly accessing anonline service. The browser usesthe Chinese language and functions onmajor Windows operating systems.Baidu currently holds a 75.5 percentshare of China’s search engine market,with Google a distant second, accordingto Beijing-based research firm AnalysysInternational. China’s Web browsermarket, however, is currently dominatedby Microsoft. About 83 percent of thecountry’s Internet populace uses InternetExplorer, according to CNZZ.com, ananalytical Web research site.Baidu currently holdsa 75.5 percent share ofChina’s search enginemarket, with Googlea distant second,according to Beijingbasedresearch firmAnalysys International.The prevalence of Internet Explorer inChina is due to how many Internet usersin the country simply aren’t aware ofother browsers in the market, said LiuNing, a strategy director for Digital China,a major IT distributor in the country.He pointed to the lower education levelsin China, adding that Internet Explorercomes bundled on PCs operating Windows.By contrast, in the US, “peoplehave higher education levels, so theyhave knowledge of other browsers theycan choose from,” said Liu. 3www.cw.com.hkApril 2011 Computerworld Hong Kong 27