As was announced recently, Google suspects China of stealing intellectual property (both from it and from other companies), as well as hacking into the mail accounts of human rights activists. According to Google’s press release, released in an official blog last week, “we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses (besides Google), including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors,” have been targeted by hack attacks originating in China. Why? “We have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists,” Google says. “These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.”

So: Some sites were hacked and hackers managed to get some malware onto the computers of “prime targets.” That is the sum of Google’s charges against China, and the reason the company has decided “that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

The reaction to this (possible) decision to shut down China’s Google operations has been much more mixed than you might imagine. On the one hand, even constant Google critics like the Electronic Freedom Foundation have praised Google for its stance (although it did remind readers that it Google originally agreed to Chinese censorship when it began operations in the country in 2006). On the other hand, there are plenty of contrarian blogger and talkback opinions posted on the thousands of articles that have appeared on this subject in the past week. Opinions have ranged from comments like “Google just doesn’t understand China’s culture,” to “this is no different than what goes on in many countries, where hacking and phishing are daily occurrences.”

China evokes strong emotions among many Westerners, who fear what many still refer to as the “red menace,” because of its Communism, its lack of human rights, and its industrial fecundity. While many (mostly younger) Chinese bemoan the dictatorship that still controls the country, many older residents are thankful for the material benefits the “Chinese way” has bestowed upon them, especially in the past decade. It may be a dictatorship – on the net and off -  say China-lovers, but at least the country has done much to raise the standard of living of many of its citizens.

I certainly do not approve of China’s policies on human rights – all people should be free to surf and connect to anything they want, unless they make a personal decision to filter their own access willingly, imho. But I bring the above by way of contrast – to the internet policies of countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and even Jordan. Google not only does not protest the censorship and invasive net practices of Arab governments – it even cooperates with them. And not only has there been no criticism of these policies by Google, there has been no hint from the company that it intends to close down its offices anywhere in the Arab world – ever.

An extensive catalog of Arab governments’ netizen abuses can be seen at http://openarab.net/en, which catalogs, country by country, the limitations on freedom of net surfing in Arab countries. Of course, you would expect heavy censorship in countries like Syria (where, the site says, all traffic is strictly monitored) and Libya (where just walking into an internet cafe can get you into trouble). But even countries that regard themselves as “westernized” to some extent, like the UAE, Kuwait, and of course that bastion of democracy, Egypt, keep tabs on users and sites, sniffing out “inappropriate” use of the internet.

Bloggers who dare to write something that their government disapproves of are likely to find themselves in jail, or worse. Contrary to the impression given in many Western media reports, the governments in conservative, Western-allied countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia not only seek to ban websites and blogs written by radical Islamists seeking to overthrow the old order – they’re out to get any hint of criticism of the regime or its institutions, including (perhaps especially) complaints by the citizenry on even banal, everyday problems. Who knows where such complaints could lead, after all?

Most countries ban access by users to thousands of sites that contain, in the words of a 2006 UAE law on legal use of the internet (similar to laws in many other Arab countries), “content challenging public interest, public morality, public order and national security, national reconciliation, and Islamic morals, or content prohibited by the laws of the United Arab Emirates and their regulations.” The law can be, and generally is, very widely interpreted, to include a panoply of “offenses;” just how widely can be seen at http://www.anhri.net/en/, which contains a depressingly long list of abuses against internet users and “uncooperative” citizens seeking basic rights. Even Jordan, arguably the most “liberal” Arab country when it comes to internet use, blocks hundreds of sites perceived to be critical of King Abdullah’s regime, and according to OpenArabNet, “tens of reporters were tried and face imprisonment” for “libel,” a law that is apparently all too easy for journalists in Jordan to violate.

Believe it or not, even internet voice services like Skype are banned in most Arab countries – apparently in order to keep up the profits of cellphone network operators! Tens of millions of foreign workers, especially in the Gulf countries, are forced to spend exorbitant amounts on cellphone service in order to keep in touch with their loved ones, instead of using the far less costly VoIP services denied them.

So what does Google have to say about any of this? Not a word (I searched the net high and low, using Google, of course!).  Apparently Google has invested all its human rights energy in China, leaving nothing left over for Egypt and the UAE – two countries where Google has offices, and that heavily censor (and punish) “inappropriate” internet use, probably more harshly than China does. Yet there is no talk of Google closing down its offices in either country. It’s not like the Arab world really wants Google around anyway – after all, YouTube (a Google product) has long been banned in most Arab countries (because, as a UAE official says,  “YouTube stirs hatred between the sons of our homeland.”) Even China recanted its brief ban on Youtube last year. Why close offices in China, but not the Arab lands? If you’re going to take a stand on internet censorship, isn’t it discriminatory – even racist – to come down hard on one set of abusers, while letting another group of abusers off the hook altogether?

Things just seem to be going from bad to worse, and by now, even Mrs. Cohen from Hadera is an expert on the roots of the mess (if she isn’t, direct her to http://tinyurl.com/4sgwq7 for details on the initial mortgage fiasco that kicked off the tsuris we’re dealing with, and to http://tinyurl.com/4y6yev for information about the far more serious credit crisis that is threatening to bankrupt everybody). But who am I to discuss the technicalities of the financial crisis the world finds itself in? For that you have armies of commentators and pundits, who all have their own ideas and theories about the why and how of the mess, and what to do about it. My purpose here is to document developments that have accompanies the crises on the internet.

Once upon a time, some of this stuff would have been dismissed as conspiracy theory junk. But extraordinary times call for extraordinary ideas, and if you could believe even half of what’s been going on in the world of finance in the last few months – and especially the bailout plans proposed over the past couple of weeks – it’s not such a stretch to believe some of what the theorists say the government has in mind for us.

For a conspiracy theory to hold water, it has to follow some basic rules, like the ones listed at http://tinyurl.com/3soxrj. The main question in any good conspiracy theory is, of course, who stands to benefit? Then, you furnish the appropriate evidence – a quote, a document, etc. – “proving” your point. And then you just fill in the details with articles from the internet. You need some facts and quotes – after that, it’s up to you how to spin them, or whether to accept or believe someone else’s spin.

Let’s start with the Chinese: They have lots of money, and according to some sources, China has threatened (http://tinyurl.com/4gcrkm) to cause a run on the dollar by dumping the hundreds of billions they have accumulated, courtesy of American consumers. Last year, a bestselling book in China fingered the Jews as the world’s shadowy currency manipulators, and the Chinese lapped it up – with even those in the top echelons of society subscribing to the idea that a group of Jewish bankers, led by (who else?) the Rothschilds, controls the world’s currencies. But check out this quote by the book’s author, Song Hongbing: “People in China are nervous about what’s going on in financial markets but they don’t know how to handle the real dangers. This book gives them some ideas” (http://tinyurl.com/4bbt86). Ideas – as in how to use the methods attributed to the Jews to manipulate the world’s currencies themselves! Why? In order to become the dominant world power. Motive, opportunity, and means – clearly it’s the Chinese!

But to be fair, the dominant theory on what caused the crisis rests on the motives of the U.S. government. According to http://tinyurl.com/47l84p, “some members of our Congress were intimidated into voting for corporate welfare with the understanding that if the measure didn’t pass – it was likely President George Bush would have to declare Martial Law.” (this claim is attributed to an official of FEMA, which is empowered to deal with national emergencies in the U.S.). Why martial law? It’s part of the plan to institute Continuity of Government (http://www.continuityofgovernment.org/) in the U.S. in the event of a major catastrophe (like 9/11, when the regulations were first enacted). If it was felt that the “situation” was too unstable – like riots outside banks by panicked depositors demanding their money – the President could declare a state of emergency, effectively suspending the constitution for as long as it takes to “restore order.” And according to the theorists, Bush and company cooked up this crisis in order to be able to declare martial law at some point, and remain in office beyond January 20, 2009, the inauguration date for the new president (http://tinyurl.com/4rgzem).

But how will that solve the financial crisis, you ask? It’s all part of the plan. The first step would be to declare a “bank holiday” in the U.S. – closing down all banks and preventing withdrawals for a few days, similar to the Bank Holiday of 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt closed the banks from March 6 to March 10 to keep depositors from bankrupting the banking system by withdrawing all their money. Given the recent runs on several banks and the low liquidity in many others, it certainly is a possibility, some say (http://tinyurl.com/5xejq5).

Then comes a revisal of the entire currency system – really the whole point of this exercise. Dollars will be phased out, and a new currency, called the Amero (as in “American style Euro”) will move in. You see, the master plan is to create a single world economy in the long run – the easier for the powers that be to control everyone – but before that, they’re working on regional economies. The Amero would unite the U.S., Canada and Mexico in a single unit of exchange – much like the Euro does in Europe – allowing greater unity between the three economies, a sort of extension of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement).

Conspiracy theories, as we said earlier, are built on a sprinkling of facts with a big dose of speculation as to what those facts mean. But unlike the wild idea that the government controls the economy, the Amero is not a figment of some nut’s imagination – in fact, it has its own Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amero). The idea has apparently been supported by a number of policymakers in all three countries, and while many “legitimate” sources ridicule the idea (http://tinyurl.com/2bhlz9), this Virginia congressman (http://tinyurl.com/4vngsv) confirms that there is an official government plan to create a North American Union modeled after the EU, with all that the term implies – like a common currency. The financial crisis is designed to knock America and Europe down a couple of pegs, putting the overpaid and overpampered Western worker more in line with their counterparts in the developing world – and leaving even more of the world’s fortune in the hands of the big shots. Suffice to say that the exchange rate of dollars for Ameros won’t be one for one, according to the theorists,.

While it all may sound ridiculous, remember that the idea of ostensibly capitalist governments buying out banks in part or in whole would have sounded like Communist propaganda not too long ago. So, anything can happen. And maybe one day, this Nigerian-style e-mail scam message (http://tinyurl.com/4rnkp6) from none other than the head of the U.S. Treasury may even appear in our inboxes!

That’s one reason why many teachers opt for open-book tests, especially if they’re faced with a less than stellar student body. With the open-book test, students at least have a fighting chance to do well on tests – or so the thinking goes, until the test results come back. It’s amazing how many students can blow it even when all the answers are in front of them!

They say that school is just a paradigm for life, and in the case of eBay, that certainly seems to be the case. eBay (www.ebay.com) and its international progeny (there are native sites in 28 other countries besides the United States) have brought the magic – and choice of on-line shopping to hundreds of millions of consumers around the world. Millions – maybe tens of millions – of sellers peddle every imaginable consumer product, being sold by millions (tens of millions?) of on-line merchants. For a minimum investment, they can get in on the world’s biggest flea market.

eBay is actually an ideal business for some people, especially those who are business-skill savvy but cash poor. The start-up costs for an eBay business are zero (it costs nothing to join), although there are fees when you sell products and (in some circumstances) when you post them on-line.

Lest you think that eBay is useful only for selling old clothes you’ve outgrown or the kids’ comic book collection, be aware that there are new and used goods of every type for sale, from matchbook covers to multi-carat diamond jewelry, which people snap up.

The most expensive item ever sold (and bought!) on eBay was a yacht (http://tinyurl.com/24wvwe), for which Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman-Abramovich), he of the Chelsea soccer organization and who apparently collects yachts, paid – would you believe – $168 million!

Critics have in recent years bashed eBay for “not being fun anymore” and being “too commercial” (I can’t imagine what else you would expect in a commerce site!). But eBay is as popular as ever, and is still a great way to make money – if you know what you’re doing, of course.

If all this is news to you, you’re like a majority of Israelis; most eBay sites serve the locals, and Israel does not (yet) have a native eBay site. Since eBay is made up of independent merchants, there is no set shipping policy, so finding a merchant that has something you want and that is willing to ship here takes a lot of searching and motivation – more than even the most avid bargain hunters have. So eBay is usually not a great on-line shopping venue for Israelis, unless they have a place to ship goods to in the US, UK or other eBay-friendly country.

Selling was, until several months ago, a problem for Israelis as well, unless they had a foreign bank account. It was only recently that Paypal, eBay’s payment mechanism, made a deal that allows Paypal proceeds to be deposited directly into local bank accounts. But that hasn’t stopped Israelis from selling stuff – lots of it!

Hundreds of people are doing it, many of them artisans selling Israeli crafts, stamps and coins, books and jewelry, among other items. Still others are based in Israel, selling goods on eBay sites shipped from China or other Far East countries directly to the customer. Why not? Just about everything they sell in the US is made in China now anyway, so why shouldn’t Israelis get in on the action too?

But like with everything else in life, there are winners and losers on eBay. Which one of the 1,121 laptop computers offered on a particular day, by auction or set price, would a customer opt for? How do you set prices in the wake of such competition? How do you attract the customer’s attention? If there are 1,000 laptops for sale and a prospective customer looks at them with the layout default of 50 machines per page, how do you make sure your offering is on page one or two, and not page 437? Thus the open-book test analogy: All the answers are right there on the eBay site – some obvious, others esoteric.

The trick to winning at eBay is knowing how to use those tools to promote your product and your service – gaining the attention and favor of potential customers who will not only bid on (or outright buy) your product, but give you a positive feedback rating, a key element in how eBay decides whom to label a trustworthy seller? It’s clearly a science – and, in fact, a most interesting article on “The Science of eBay” (http://tinyurl.com/jocpb) gives some useful tips on how to play the system.

Based on scientific research using numerous behavioral studies conducted among eBay customers and merchants, several professors from the London Business School and Northwestern University came up with 10 “commandments” on what to do and avoid when doing business on the site. An even more extensive list of tips is available at http://tinyurl.com/2zhhzb, and lists 51 useful ideas on how to sell and make money (also don’t forget eBay’s own tutorial site – for buyers and sellers – at http://pages.ebay.com/education/).

On-line education is all well and good, says Asi Tsur, a professional full-time eBay seller in Israel – but there are a lot of charlatans out there who sell on-line courses consisting of not too much more than the tips on the sites I listed above. “It’s just too complicated,” he says, “with all the rules and regulations it’s easy to get lost.”

Despite what many people think, Tsur says, eBay is not a get-rich-quick scheme. On the other hand, he says, with the right tools and knowledge, local merchants can join the many Americans, Brits, Poles, Argentineans, Indians and citizens of almost every other country in the world who sell on eBay, and who earn a nice side – or full-time – income from their work.

Asi has a Web site on the subject and offers classes in Hebrew (he says he will soon offer them in English as well) on the eBay business. As far as I know, he is the only person in Israel teaching such classes. (eBay itself runs training programs for potential merchants in many countries, but not in Israel.) Check out his site at http://www.limudebay.com http://www.limudebay.com/> if you’re interested. The site, in Hebrew, also has a useful list of free tips, links and sales aids at http://www.limudebay.com/tips.php.