George, if you're getting a new email, send it to me so I can keep you on my mailing list for all my exciting articles and editorials.

I will. I plan to kill it very soon.

sadly, as you can see from this article, Yahoo and Microsoft are doing the same with the Chinese...shutting down blogs and giving the Chinese govt. info used to jail activists. As dearly departed Janis once sang..."Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."

I know. But Google is activist for left-wing causes. Of the companies you mentioned, I think Google does it with the least regret. That's my $0.02.

I've got to figure out what to do about my email. A switch to Yahoo mail feels almost as bad, except Yahoo never pretended to be something they aren't.

I need to use some form of webmail though. Anyone got a suggestion?

While "everyone does it", I'll note that Google are the ones with the corporate motto "Don't Be Evil". Clearly they are doing just that.

Interestingly I was listening to the "This Week in Tech" podcast today and they were discussing this. Everyone involved is a Bay Area techno-hippie, so they were uneasy with the action, but still felt they had to defend Google. So their excuse was that "telling another country how to go about their business is always wrong", with Iraq and Cuba given as the examples (!) I've gotta find out how to contact these guys, because I'll bet real US dollars they don't believe that about the boycott of South Africa in the late 80s.

Re: webmail. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Go with Yahoo. The current version is clunky, but the beta is sexier than a supermodel convention at a Ferrari dealership. It blows Gmail out of the water on attractiveness, features, ease of use, and everything else.

Wow .... I am proud of you guys who've decided to call Google quits .... didn't think anyone was REALLY going to do it. I LIKE it - the rubber has met the road.

It's true that Google is very far left and has been so from its inception. In this FREE market we live in, we have options.

Good-bye Google. Let it be a resounding gong to all those companies sucking up to dictatorships.

Why was no one up in arms when Germany and France got Google to censor things?

All the above are good comments, and I should have done my "due diligence" before getting a Gmail account - did so only because of the "gigs" but will have to bite the bullet and transfer all the goodies saved in Gmail, bit by bit (no pun intended) elsewhere...thanks for the Yahoo mail suggestions.

We need an equivalent "capitalist tool" email system and stop supporting these companies that talk out of both sides of their corporate mouth. Let's not forget, as we abandon Google, to let them folks know why we are doing it.

Unfortunately, I need to keep the Gmail account, because the free accounts on Yahoo and other providers are blocked by the filter at school.