January 13, 2010 5:23 PM PST

Google's peers mulling their options in China

In the immortal words of Mick Jones, "if I go there will be trouble, if I stay it will be double."

Executives at U.S. Internet companies are humming The Clash today, now that Google has forced a discussion about China. However, they aren't ready to put the situation in such stark terms as the gentlemen from London (should they stay or should they go?) by following the lead of Google, which declared on Tuesday that it would exit the Chinese market, unless it was allowed to offer an uncensored search engine following cyberattacks on Google and other U.S. businesses.

Still, that move could mark a turning point for the way U.S. media companies justify doing business inside China. Public pressure on Internet companies operating in China is likely to build (especially in an election year), now that Google has picked a fight with the Chinese government over free-speech principles. Shareholders are more agnostic, however, and likely won't want their businesses to miss out on the huge Internet market that awaits them as China continues to develop.

READ MORE:    Cnet.com