The title of the article is oddly chosen. Google's customers can only be held 'hostage' by actions taken by the Chinese government. Google is not ceasing to allow customers access to vital data or services - they're simply refusing to follow the arbitrary guidelines set in place by China, and China is blocking access to Google services in response.<p>So, I agree - Google definitely shouldn't take Chinese netizens or their data as hostages. That's the job of the Chinese government.<p>This also illustrates how Google's earlier actions (doing business in China in hopes of encouraging the nation to 'open up') have had the opposite effect: Google has handed China a highly effective bargaining chip in the form of their customers' data. If Google had never offered these services in the first place, it would be impossible for their customers to be 'held hostage' by the Chinese government.<p>To some extent this situation is different for Microsoft - Ballmer was somewhat correct to say in recent discussion that his company has no reason to withdraw from China. The Chinese government has no easy way to hold his customers' data hostage - once you've installed Windows and Microsoft Word onto your PC, it's going to keep working and letting you access your data unless you do something to change that (like connecting to the internet or installing Green Dam), regardless of any disagreement Microsoft may have with your local government. It is only Google's heavy reliance on 'the cloud' for storing users' data that makes this possible.