On the other hand, large corporations (i.e. Elsevier) profiting from others' creation of intellectual property seems very inline with China's model in certain sectors...
Though I would agree that the comparison is weak. While I'm always against censorship in all its forms, relating it to China seems... stretched.
In the West, the surveillance is usually done by the private corporations instead of the government. Like Google, Facebook etc. For the end user there is no big difference.
I think NSA is major agent in surveillance. I am frankly more wary about governments and shady national security agencies doing surveillance on citizens than private companies doing it for commercial gains.
Though I would agree that the comparison is weak. While I'm always against censorship in all its forms, relating it to China seems... stretched.