Since Google threatened to pull out of China last month, speculation has been rife about the reasons behind the unexpected move. But with all the drama there's one group that's been forgotten.

China's authors are still waiting for a response from the internet giant over what they say is copyright abuse. Google has admitted scanning thousands of works without permission.

By the looks of this bookstore it may seem that China's authors are in for a money making day. But for most, making a profit from their art is as hard as beating the piracy that's rampant in China.

But it's not the pirates that the authors are blaming – it's Google. Last year, the Chinese Writers Association found that more than 80 000 works by writers were scanned into Google's library. It enables people to search and read any book for free – either in part or in its entirety. The aim is to entice the reader to purchase the book. But writers like Jiu Yehui says it doesn't benefit them.

Google is still awaiting a decision from the Chinese government which will decide the scope of its future operations in China. It has already stopped automatically redirecting Chinese online users to its Hong Kong site in an attempt to renew its license for Google.cn. David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer said the Chinese government told Google the re-routing was “unacceptable” and it would not renew its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license if it continued.

Now, the fallout following Google's announcement that it is no longer willing to censor search results on its Chinese service and that it may exit China is continuing.

As we reported yesterday, the world's leading search engine said the decision followed a cyber attack it believes was aimed at gathering information on Chinese human rights activists.

The move follows a clampdown on the internet in China over the last year, which has seen sites and social networking services hosted overseas blocked – including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube – and the closure of many sites at home.

Chinese authorities criticised Google for supplying "vulgar" content in results. Google acknowledged that the decision "may well mean" the closure of Google.cn and its offices in China. Google has only a third of the search-engine market in China, which is dominated by the Chinese giant Baidu.

Although its revenues have continued to rise, many analysts believed it was finding business hard going. Let's cross to Emma in the newsroom now for the latest on what China's Internet users have been saying about all this.

We've heard what Chinese people on the street think, but what about foreign businesses that are thinking of moving to China? Earlier BON reporter Susan Tart spoke with Internet analyst Ashley Liu from In-Stat, a research firm located in Beijing. Susan asked if Google changing the automatic reroute on its China Webpage is a sign of Google giving in to the Chinese government. Here's what Ashley had to say.

It may not be just an idle threat. The world's top search engine, Google, may well be leaving China for good. Last week, the company says it could no longer abide by the censorship rules it promised to obey when GOOGLE-DOT-CN was launched just four years ago.

Within hours of the announcement, Google appeared to be defying Chinese censors, displaying results for sensitive topics that were previously banned in China. Flowers have been laid outside Google's Beijing offices in a mock funeral for the company.

POLICEMAN SUSPENDED FOR SHOOTINGS
FATAL POISON LEAK CLEARED
HERITAGE HOUSE ON THE MOVE
CHINESE TAKE ON GOOGLE ROW
ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM
CHINA'S PORN PAYOUT
WOULD GOOGLE BE MISSED?
CHINA'S GDP GROWTH

China's internet leaders are hoping to clean up the industry – and cut down on copyright abuse.

Representatives from 101 website companies have signed up to a self-regulatory system in a bid to improve copyright protection and fight piracy.