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The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.

March - 2008 - issue > Tech Tracker

Gates blasts Internet Censorship @ Stanford

Christo Jacob
Friday, February 29, 2008
Christo Jacob
Addressing the Stanford University students Microsoft’s lame duck Chairman Bill Gates recently asserted that the Chinese government’s effort to grapple on Internet censorship would not succeed in the long run. In recent years Microsoft, along with other companies, had assaulted the attempts to introduce Internet censorship. Recalling the shut down of the blog of the Chinese journalist Zhao Jing in 2005, Gates cautioned that restrictions on free speech would curtail business activity and so the commercial forces must work against the censorship.

Apart from insisting on the need to open up the Internet arena, Gates shared about his philanthropic ambition following his retirement from Microsoft to drive innovation in new ways that would benefit underdeveloped countries. He has set high goals to fight against HIV/AIDS, and also a campaign to eradicate polio and malaria.

While revealing Microsoft’s DreamSpark, an initiative for students, Gates promised to spend more time with both universities and companies and encouraged them to get involved with more enthusiasm in such initiatives. Microsoft DreamSpark is a community-based program to provide students with free access to Microsoft’s industry-leading software development, gaming, and design tools.

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