Sergey Brin Goes To Washington

The challenge of finding Senators willing to hear Google's point of view on network neutrality will look like a walk in the park compared to the prospect of changing course with its business in China.

reported, DC is not an ideal world. Google co-founder Sergey Brin's last-minute stop in the nation's capital was an unplanned, off the cuff decision. In that ideal world, Brin would have been able to talk to people like Commerce Committee Chair Ted Stevens (R-AK) about network neutrality. That meeting and ones with four other Senators could not be arranged, though chats with another four were accomplished. "It wasn't very well organized," Brin said in an interview with the Post. "I apologize. It was a last-minute trip." He probably does not need to apologize for the hastily arranged schedule. When one party has a majority in both houses of Congress, and your company is well known for supporting the minority party (we need say no more than "Eric Schmidt hosted an Al Gore fundraiser" here), majority Senators will be less inclined to clear calendar space at the last minute. Brin did some apologizing anyway, but not about dropping in unexpectedly. Instead, Google's foray into China has proven a decision that still spurs debate within and outside the company. Entering China's Internet market caused significant debate within Google's hierarchy. Its decision to establish a presence there while obeying Beijing's censorship requirements meant Google had to place profiting from a booming Internet market over its fabled 'don't be evil' pledge. After Brin made the rounds on Capitol Hill, he told reporters that Google only acceded to Chinese censorship demands after Beijing blocked Google from the country's users. He did note that Google's rivals agreed to the same conditions before Google, yet without the uproar surrounding his company's entrance. The Mercury News Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Yahoo! My Web | Furl Bookmark Murdok: David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.