[selected.by.rael at rael-science.org: [rael-science] The great firewall of China]

[Eugen Leitl]

Source: bbc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4587622.stm




The great firewall of China


In the space of about a decade, China's tech 
development has raced ahead to catch up with some 
of the most advanced countries in the West. But 
there are still stark differences, finds Richard Taylor.

With a rapidly expanding online population, it is 
tempting to see China as hurtling full speed 
towards digital nirvana, but all is not quite what it seems.

Somewhere along the way the idea that the Chinese 
people should be allowed to inform and be informed appears to have been lost.

China is proof that the net can be developed and strangled all at once.

Being online here is a distinctly hit and miss 
experience - fine if you want to access mundane 
content, but try to get into anything considered 
even remotely sensitive by the government and it 
soon starts grinding to a halt.

I tried accessing the BBC News website but to no 
avail. A government official told me there must 
be what he called "a technical problem".

In truth, those "technical problems" are 
afflicting more and more information sites in 
China, for example the open source encyclopaedia 
Wikipedia, perhaps because it has fallen foul of 
the government's recent declaration that news and 
information in today's China should only be what 
it calls "healthy" and "in the public interest".

One official from the internet publishing 
department, Kuo Xiao Wei, admitted the 
authorities consider the net a mixed blessing.

He said it abounds with pornography and gambling 
sites, and while it can be a source of good 
information, it also carries with it the 
possibility of spreading rumour and misinformation.

"With 56 ethnic minorities, we can't risk one slandering another", he added.

-----
Amnesty International is aware of at least 64 
cyber dissidents who are imprisoned right now 
just for peacefully expressing their opinions 
online, whether it's on an e-mail or a website
Steve Ballinger, Amnesty International
-----

So Chinese netizens find themselves surfing in 
the shadow of the world's most sophisticated 
censorship machine, which is now more menacing than ever.

There is now an estimated 30,000-strong internet 
police force which, with the aid of 
Western-provided technology, is dedicated to monitoring websites and e-mails.

On a technical level the five gateways which 
connect China to the global internet filter 
traffic coming into and going out of the country.

Keyword blocking technology - much of it provided 
by western companies - is used to prevent access to offending sites.

Even the country's 110,000 internet caf?s are now 
highly regulated and state-licensed, and all are 
equipped with standard surveillance systems.

Self-censorship

Increasingly, though, the authorities are relying 
on individuals to censor themselves or risk harsh 
and well publicised penalties if they dare to challenge the establishment.

Steve Ballinger, of Amnesty International, says: 
"Amnesty International is aware of at least 64 
cyber dissidents who are imprisoned right now 
just for peacefully expressing their opinions 
online, whether it's on an e-mail or a website.

"Some of the offences they're accused of are 
signing an online petition, sending information 
to a foreign organisation, or disseminating information about the SARS virus."

Corporate China is also expected to play an 
active part in this self-censorship, keeping a close eye on content.

One website forum administrator was willing to 
talk to me, but did not want to be identified. 
Suffice to say, he is in no doubt what his job entails.

He said: "If you say anything against the 
government we've got to delete it, no exception, 
because it's a forum, it's a public place. If the 
government finds anything against them in the 
forum, that will jeopardise the company."

Finding a way

In spite of all this, many people here simply 
refuse to be cowed and they are finding some 
inventive ways to circumvent the restrictions.

The government doesn't know how to control the 
blog thing. Next year maybe they'll be able to 
but we'll find other ways of expressing ourselves
Michael Anti, free speech campaigner
One simple and effective way is to turn to other 
forms of communication, like texting from mobiles 
and instant messaging, which have proved 
successful in distributing information quickly.

Blogging is also proving a hugely popular 
alternative to websites, for individuals to find self-expression.

SOME PUBLIC WEB-BASED CIRCUMVENTION SERVICES
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
Michael Anti has long been campaigning for free 
speech. His blog is renowned as being one of 
China's true sources of information.

He believes the cat and mouse game between the 
government and its people is set to continue.

"The government doesn't know how to control the 
blog thing. Next year maybe they'll be able to 
but we'll find other ways of expressing ourselves."

Equipped with the right know-how, some Chinese 
are already using more sophisticated technologies 
to beat the authorities at their own game.

Advanced software for example allows users 
anonymously to redirect their internet activity 
through a third-party computer known as a proxy 
server, which is out of reach of the Chinese authorities.

----- End forwarded message -----
-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.ativel.com
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
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