China’s Net Censorship
p2p news / p2pnet: Decades-long protests to Communist China about human rights violations have had almost zero effect. Individuals are persecuted and jailed, and far worse, and blogs and news and information sites are routinely censored and shut down with the full-blooded cooperation of mega US corporations such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Google.
These huge, unimaginably powerful companies, and others like them, appear to believe their unstinting cooperation is helping them to penetrate China, with its vast population, as their next natural profit centre.
However, the opposite is true.
Communist China is taking them for a ride.
US representative Christopher H. Smith, chairman of a House subcommittee on human rights, “plans to hold hearings next month on reports that US Internet companies, including Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., aid efforts by the government of China to suppress free speech,” says Playfuls.com. “Smith has invited participants from technology firms to speak, as well as the U.S. State Department and watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.”
If his ideas are adopted, “American Internet firms will be able to request a court order from Chinese authorities before revealing information about a user,” says the post. “Also, US Internet companies that are operating in China or on the Chinese Web will need to report such information requests to the US government.”
Meanwhile, “Microsoft’s cooperation with China in getting a Chinese blogger’s site closed, “is bringing a renewed focus on the role U.S. companies play in helping China control the Internet,” says BusinessWeek Online.
“It’s no secret that Western businesses that want to enter the Internet market in China have to do some unsavory things. The Chinese government, determined to prevent dissidents from using the Net to promote taboo subjects such as the Falun Gong religious movement, formal independence for Taiwan, or an end to Communist Party rule, pressures providers to play by Chinese rules and control the content that’s available for local Net surfers.”
Have to do to do some unsavory things?
But, “When companies do restrict what their Chinese users send or read on the Net,” they face, “howls of criticism from activists, bloggers, and ordinary folks abroad who think that multinationals should not be helping Beijing police the Net.”
The above quotes are preludes to an interesting and revealing Q&A with Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong. In part, it goes on:
How big a role do foreign companies play in helping China control the Net?
Bequelin: China would not have succeeded in censoring the Net without the support and cooperation of foreign IT companies. This is the inescapable truth. This is the problem that has to be addressed.
AND —-
So do you think Western companies are doing anything wrong?
Bequelin: The fact is that foreign IT suppliers and companies are willingly, knowingly assisting the Chinese police in suppressing political dissent.
AND —
What should people concerned about human rights do about that?
Bequelin: The business interests are so large that you will never stop this. What do you say? Pull out of China? “If we don’t sell, someone else will,” that’s what people respond. And in the case of IT, China is definitely going to get it because of their own companies and the nature of the IT industry.
Even if Yahoo is not there, they will have something else. If Google is not there, they will have something else. What is objectionable is the stonewalling that companies do. They don’t take any responsibility, admit that there are certain grey areas and that their technology can be used for repression, or mitigate this.
Also See:
Microsoft – Could Microsoft pirate your PC?, January 10, 2006
Yahoo – Yahoo on ‘grass’ charges, September 10, 205
Google – Google China censorship: more, October 2, 2004
unstinting cooperation – Investment funds sign Net pledge, November 8, 2005
Playfuls.com – American Lawmakers: China’s Net Censorship Must Be Stopped, January 15, 2006
BusinessWeek Online – How China Controls the Internet, January 13, 2006
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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 website blocking outside of China.
Download it here and feel free to copy the zip and host it yourself so others can download it.
January 15th, 2006 at 11:48 pm
“If we don’t sell, someone else will”
This is the same old armament industry arguments:
If we don’t sell sell the arms, the airplanes and the machine guns someone else will. The fact that the armaments are used to supress the people of the country buying the arms means nothing to the armaments industry and their home governments because money is the only goal.
The hit man says the same thing. If I don’t do it, someone else will. Money is the only goal.
January 18th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
I will argue on the “Republican” side of the mainstream political party. The owners of Google, Yahoo, etc have to right to run their business as they see fit. OK, fine. I have the right to take my business elswhere. I currently use http:/www.askjeeves.com and clusty.com to do my searches. Google is out because they have sold out. Unfortunately my little voice makes little difference because most people still use the megacorps sites. I do not support despots nor do I support their accomplices. I also have the same philisophical policy towards the democratic-republican party.
First, there is the stupidest group of them all. I use the name Bill O’reilly gives them, “Kool Aid Drinkers.” These are the idiots that actually believe the promises spewed by the candidates of their political side of the mainstream party. They believe despite the decades of lies and broken promises. These people are too stupid to
convince to be convinced of their folly or they have guarantees of these promises due to the large campaign contributions they have made one way or another. I do not even waste my time with these folks. They are too politically stupid to think for theselves or are too corrupt to give a damned about their country or fellow citizens.
Unfortunately other sheeple continue to vote for the candidates running under the democrat-republican party simply because they think that one faction is more evil than the other and no one in an alternative party has a chance of getting elected. I consider these people the brainwashed as far as politics are concerned. I believe that a few of these can be convinced once hard facts are shown to them about how each side of the mainstream political party votes to pass the same types of laws despite their promises and campaign rhetoric. I do spend some time trying to reach these folks, and in rare circumstances, my efforts do have some effect.
I have more respect for the ones that stay home on election day because they are smart enough to realize that there is no “lessor evil.” These people are not brainwashed. They may be lazy or they may be mis-informed, but they are not stupid as far as politics is concerned. I have had a lot of success in reaching these people and encourage those who support alternative parties to reach out to this group as well.
Once people see there are actual choices when it comes to voting and decide to excercise them, the P.S.A. might once again become the U.S.A. I hope the population decides to look elsewhere besides the lamescream Democrat-Republican party next election. If not, then I imagine that the only way for politicians to get the message is for people like Marvin Heemeyer of Granby Colorado to throw their own version of the Boston Tea Party. Check Out Marvin Heemeyer in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heemeyer
I really hate to see things come to this, but unfortunately, unless the Second Coming of Messiah happens or voters actually do throw out most of this nation’s corrupted politicians, Tea Parties may be the only way for the little man to have a voice.
January 18th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Weren’t the promises of these rganizations to improve the live of billions? Why doesn’t Google or Yahoo have the U.S. government file a complaint about undue harrassment for noncompliance to bullshit regulations of repressive governments? Oh yeah, I forgot that it was multibillion dollar companies along with governments that got these treaties passed. Despite the promises of improving the lot of billions of people on the planet, these trade agreements only serve to improve the bottom lines of major corporation and politicians. Such bullshit!!! Yet these so called trade agreements were signed by both Bush administrations as well as the Clinton administration. When I comes to the bottom line, both Democrat and Republican are exactly the same.
Alternative parties or Tea Party anyone?
http://www.constitutionparty.com ( Constitution Party )
http://www.lp.org (Libertarian Party )
http://www.fija.org ( Judge the law as well as the facts!!! )