Even as Google founder Sergey Brin was in Washington, D.C. yesterday, and all over the press, testifying on Capital hill regarding "net neutrality" -- and taking heat for allowing its Chinese site, google.cn, to be censored -- Paris-based Reporters Without Borders reported that Google's main, uncensored, international website was no longer accessible in most Chinese provinces, and that it was "completely inaccessible throughout China on May 31."

The blocking of Google's main site by the Chinese authorities would undermine Brin's primary defense against congressional critics, which is that the vast majority of Chinese Google users bypass the censored domestic site in favor of the uncensored international site. Reporters Without Borders notes sensibly enough that "it was only to be expected that Google.com would be gradually sidelined after the censored version was launched in January."

In a post-testimony conversation with reporters, the Sidney Morning Herald writes that Brin acknowledged having second thoughts about Google's Chinese strategy: "Perhaps now the principled approach makes more sense," he said -- words that left at least some wondering if the search giant would pull out of China altogether.