Week in Review: Google stops censoring

Week in Review

Google quits censoring in China

After some big announcements and large threats from Google, the search engine has officially stopped censoring its search results in China.

Users will now be directed to an uncensored site in simplified Chinese although the company has had to warned users they may see a slowdown its service as information is switched over.

The move has received great praise from free speech campaigners but unsurprisingly the Chinese Government is less than impressed.

Budget confirms broadband tax

This week also saw Alistair Darling take to the stage in parliament to give his 2010 budget, the last before the next general election.

In addition to the usual raises on tax for cider and cigarettes, the Chancellor confirmed the controversial broadband tax of 50 pence a month on all landlines, aiming to raise money for the rollout of super-fast broadband around the UK.

He also promised more support for SMBs, with tax breaks and greater access to loans.

Best of the rest

Dell made its major announcements of the year including a new server line for cloud computing and more storage releases with EMC.

YouTube was knocked offline by a "technical issue", Twitter claimed to have reduced spam to just one per cent and the technology world celebrated Ada Lovelace Day.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.