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Activists have no love for 'Goolag' regime

Anne Broache Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Anne Broache
covers Capitol Hill goings-on and technology policy from Washington, D.C.
Anne Broache

The outcry over Google's recent censored foray into the Chinese search world hasn't stopped at home.

On Valentine's Day, scores of Tibetans and young activists from Students for a Free Tibet staged protests against the search giant at Google offices around the globe.

Their mantra for the day's events, appropriately enough, was "No Luv 4 Google."

From Bangalore to Copenhagen, Milan to Sydney, and London to Dharamsala, India--home to his holiness, the Dalai Lama--the protesters waved Tibetan flags and hoisted signs that chastised the company for cooperating with the Chinese government in its launch of Google.cn.

The activist contingent is clearly banking on others to pick up its lead. A new online store sells protest gear, with proceeds going to Human Rights in China, a non-profit activist group.

The word "Goolag" is emblazoned on the array of shirts, stickers, mugs, magnets, and messenger bags in the company's signature primary-colored letters--a thinly veiled reference, no doubt, to the infamous network of Chinese prison camps.