It's official. Google is shutting down Google.cn.

That URL is now being redirected to Google's uncensored Hong Kong site.

Google's announcement:

'On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the surveillance they uncovered?€”combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger?€”had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn."

High marks to Google for this action which will undoubtedly cost them billions in profit from business in China.

Over the centuries, many private companies have influenced the course of a nation, as often negatively as positively. China has been the adverse effect of such in the past - for example the British East India Company's opium trade, leading to the Opium Wars whereby China's sovereignty was severely compromised.

Now perhaps we'll see - over time - a very positive influence on China from this courageous action.