14 DAY TRIAL // Google is heading towards another standoff with China as it has failed to apply for a license now required of all online mapping service operators. Google has one day left to ask for a license, but hasn't acted so far, China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping says.
Google did not comment on the situation and it's unclear if it plans to ask for a license at this point. Without one, Google Maps may be blocked in China and the company may be liable.
China has started requiring mapping services to have a license in order to operate. This, China says, is because of numerous errors, relating to border issues mostly, and national security concerns.
So far, 105 licenses have been granted to local and foreign mapping services, such as Baidu, Sina Corp. and others. Google though is not one of them or has it made any move to indicate its interest in the license.
We'll have to wait a couple more days to see how this plays out. And, even though the deadline is tomorrow, the government agency in charge of the new program has until July to hand out penalties.
Google has been through this before. Last year, there was a fear that Google would not have its internet service license renewed after the aggressive decisions it took, moving search out of the country and dropping censorship, as well as criticizing China and accusing it of hacking into its infrastructure.
Google had its license granted eventually and it can operate safely until 2012. But it has been on the offensive again lately, accusing China of interfering with the Gmail service, slowing it down to the point of making it unworkable for many.
China hasn't been sitting idly by either. It has started accusing Google of having ulterior motives and being politically motivated. The popular Chinese conspiracy theory points at what's happening in the Middle East and North Africa and says that Google is heavily involved with the uprising. It goes on to say that this may be Google's motives in China as well.