Google's decision to abandon the voluntary censorship of its service in China has been met with cheers throughout the world from human rights activists, internet enthusiasts and most right-minded people.

The company raised many eyebrows when it decided to bring a censored version of its search engine to China in 2006 seemingly flying in the face of one of its company mottos -- "Do no evil".

Now the company has a decision to make. Stay and fight the Chinese government's totalitarian, paranoid, narrow minded attitude to the internet or pull out of the country completely.

Unfortunately for Google there is something more than just the moral issues and higher ground to consider: its investors and Wall Street.

While China accounts for a small portion of Google's worldwide revenue its withdrawal from there would mean that the company's growth potential would be dealt a blow.

Investors would clearly be turned off – after all the Chinese market is huge and Google has been steadily building there. The domino effect here is that Google's share price could plummet if the company is seen to turn its back on one of the biggest markets in the world. And if Google jump will others follow? Wouldn't it be great to see the world's biggest tech companies lining up behind the search engine giant and stand up to China?

Much for Google to mull over.

Science and the young

ICT Ireland, the tech wing of IBEC was making big noises this week thanks to a record number of entries in the Young Scientist and Technology competition. This, it sees, is an indicator of students' growing interest in science.

Of course this is good news – we need more young people involved in science and technology and they need to be carefully nurtured. At the moment Ireland is suffering a crisis in these disciplines particularly in the field of mathematics. So the possibility of some bright young things progressing to third and fourth level in the sciences is encouraging.

Unfortunately the things that stir the passions of our youth are not always reflected in the jobs we end up in. In addition, I know many people who went into science careers only to leave them after a few years and pursue totally different vocations. And the brightest of those that do stick to technological or scientific pursuits will, possibly, leave these shores and work abroad.

So while the signs may be heartening it is a little early to celebrate.

The cost of being .Irish

It seems the recession has driven many of us .ie (dot ie) crazy! The IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the registry for Ireland's official internet address .ie has said that 2009 was the strongest annual performance to date with the highest domain registration figures recorded.

The number of .ie domain registrations reached 37,055 for the year, representing an increase of 8% on the previous year's total of 34,263. The total number of .ie domains now stands at almost 136,000.

According to the IEDR, the 2009 registration figures indicate sustained demand from local sole traders and limited companies, who account for over 80% of new registrants.

Commenting on the figures David Curtin, chief executive of the IE Domain Registry, said that the increase on last year's figure was significant against the backdrop of economic difficulty for businesses and consumer.

Indeed the figures would suggest that the recession is turning many people's hands to online ventures.

One of my personal bugbears about obtaining a .ie address is the obstacles you have to overcome to obtain one.

Getting a.com is as easy as falling off a log – if the domain name you want has not already been snapped up you simply just register it.

The Irish domain name, however, is a trickier process. You have to have some legitimate claim to the name you are registering – be it personal or business.

For instance if I wanted to register the name joeblogs.ie I'd have to submit proof that I was Joe Blogs. If it was a business I'd have to have the trading name registered at the Companies office.

Here is how the IEDR explains it: "Anyone can get any .com domain name - which means somebody has probably already grabbed your .com domain name! Because it's a .ie internet address it tells your potential customers that you're doing business in, or from, Ireland and that you really are who you say you are. This difference between a .ie and a .com internet address has been described as the difference between a recognisable business address and a PO address. Both perform precisely the same function but, from the consumers' perspective, the clearly recognisable business address in a known geographic location inspires more confidence."

While those comments are, to a certain extent, reasonable it is essentially trying to validate the high prices it charges. But as the IEDR would point out it is probably best to purchase a .ie from one of its resellers (such as Register365, Blacknight, Register.ie and so) who will charge you substantially less. Still, even with a reseller a .ie can be over four times the price of the alternatives. So choose your domain name provider wisely.