Industry News reported in an article titled:  Clinton Asks China to Probe Cyber-Attack, Says Censorship Should Be Fought -

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on U.S. technology companies to resist censorship of the Internet and said perpetrators of cyber attacks such as those who targeted Google Inc. must face consequences. “Censorship should not be in any way accepted by any company from anywhere,” Clinton said yesterday in a speech at the Newseum , a media history center in Washington. “American companies need to make a principled stand. This needs to be part of our national brand. I’m confident that consumers worldwide will reward companies that follow those principles.” Clinton’s long-planned address on Internet freedom laid out the Obama administration’s view of an uncensored global Internet where everyone has access to the same information, and governments and corporations don’t block knowledge or steal intellectual property.

The U.S. government is looking “to Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the cyber intrusions that led Google to make this announcement” Clinton said. The Chinese government has denied involvement in the cyber attacks. Foreign Ministry China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t have any immediate reaction to the speech today. In a statement released yesterday before Clinton’s address, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei was cited by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying the Google case shouldn’t affect relations between China and the U.S. and any attempt to draw such conclusions would be “over-interpreting” the issue. Google said its investigation found hackers from inside China also targeted the intellectual property of dozens of other U.S. companies. Those firms haven’t publicized the alleged attacks, a silence that analysts have attributed to a fear of worrying investors and depressing their stock prices. “Countries or individuals that engage in cyber attacks should face consequences and international condemnation,” Clinton said.