China to tighten Net curtain
p2pnet.net news:- China wants to lock the Net up tight, turning it into a dedicated platform for Communist Party doctrine.
“The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said on Monday that China would promote and produce more healthy online cultural products’ as part of their efforts to promote social harmony,” says Xinhua, going on:
“Participants at the Politburo meeting, presided over by Chinese President Hu Jintao, asked all publicity and cultural organizations to produce more high-quality online cultural products, which ‘represent the social progress and the splendid traditional culture of China’.”
The clampdown would prevent “decadent” online material from spreading online, says a statement issued after the meeting.
“The Politburo said China would also make more efforts to promote the ideology of Marxism over the Internet,” it said.
In another Xinhua release, Hu, “asked officials to become more knowledgeable and to improve their ability to administer the Internet,” says Xinhua, saying the Chinese government, “should use advanced technologies to better guide public opinions voiced through the Internet”.
China’s online population jumped by almost 24% last year to reach 137 million, and the number of Chinese bloggers reached 20.8 million at the end of last year, of whom 3.15 million are “active authors,”says the China Internet Network Information Center, continuing:
“China Internet Association Councillor Hu Qiheng said the government was considering new ways to supervise blogs, requiring bloggers to identify themselves when they register, even if they write under a pseudonym.”
Chinese political prisoner Wang Xiaoning and his wife Yu Ling are suing Yahoo, claiming it aided “the commission of torture” by helping Chinese authorities to identify political dissidents, “who were later beaten and imprisoned”.
Meanwhile, “The Ministry of Culture in December ordered all music distributors to register and apply for approval from cultural authorities to distribute imported music products on the Internet,” says Xinhua, adding:
“It also required online music based on music products copied or composed by netizens for non-profit purposes to be monitored more closely, saying some products had poor quality, or content that abused ethnic traditions or affected social stability.”
Also See:
Xinhua – China’s CPC Politburo calls for more “healthy online cultural products”, April 23, 2007
Xinhua – President Hu Jintao asks officials to better cope with Internet, April 24, 2007
commission of torture – Jailed dissident’s wife sues Yahoo, April 20, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the endSurvey: How Did Copyright Infringement Become Equated with Robbery? (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
