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Google's response has been to replace its instant forwarding with a "landing page," a Google.cn site that offers only noncensored services such as music and translation and links to Google.com.hk for all search functions, a measure that it hopes complies with Chinese law while upholding its resolution to avoid censorship. The ball now lies in China's court. But whether or not the Chinese government renews Google's license, Google's dance with China over the past six months will offer a powerful lesson to other Western companies that enter the tempting Chinese market of 1.3 billion people.

China's "Great Firewall" of online censorship is legendary, shutting down dissent by removing the content of controversial blogs, restricting news and limiting Internet access for millions of citizens. For Western businesses in China, this presents a dilemma. "You've got to decide," Bill Gates asked after Google's decision in January, "do you want to obey the laws of the countries you're in, or not?" Such logic often serves as the justification for Western companies who abide by China's rules.

But this willingness to cooperate with Chinese controls has contributed to a startling trend: the privatization of censorship. Companies that operate blogging sites or search engines in China are faced with a barrage of messages from authorities demanding that they remove controversial comments and even take down whole pages that the Communist Party deems unacceptable. Failure to police content thoroughly or swiftly enough invites being shut down, a fate that recently befell Chinese microblogging service Fanfou and that now threatens Google's Chinese operations.

As long as companies kowtow to these authoritarian demands -- often in excess of what Chinese law requires -- the Great Firewall will stand. Businesses that choose to remain in China must show greater respect for the rule of law than the censors do. Microsoft vowed this year to require that China's censorship requests pass through proper legal channels. It must uphold this commitment, and other companies should follow suit. Responding only to proper legal complaints will not end censorship, but it can help to slow and diminish it.