rst0wxyz <rst0wxyz@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:=20
> On May 2, 10:12=A0am, Viejo Vizcacha <nats_ugly...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > On May 2, 12:51 pm, rst0wxyz <rst0w...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >
> > > These people continue to say you can not use the internet from
China.
> > > You, Francis Poon, are a prime example they are wrong as you ARE
usin=
g
> > > the internet from China on a regular daily baisis.
> >
> > If you are an agent of the Chinese government, OF COURSE you can use
> > the internet from China.
>=20
>=20
> Let's just say you are a brainwashed idiotic fool.
>=20
Internet censor****p in the PRC has been called "a panopticon that
encourage=
s=20
self-censor****p through the perception that users are being watched".[8]
Th=
e=20
enforcement (or threat of enforcement) of censor****p creates a chilling=20
effect where individuals and businesses willingly censor their own=20
communications to avoid legal and economic repercussions.
Search engines
See also: List of words censored by search engines in the People's=20
Republic of China
One part of the block is to filter the search results of certain terms on=
=20
Chinese search engines. These Chinese search engines include both=20
international ones (for example, yahoo.com.cn and Google China) as well
as=
=20
domestic ones (for example, Baidu). Attempting to search for censored=20
keywords in these Chinese search engines will yield few or no results.=20
Google.cn will display the following at the bottom of the page: "According
=
to=20
the local laws, regulations and policies, part of the searching result is
n=
ot=20
shown."
In addition, a connection containing intensive censored terms may also be=
=20
closed by The Great Firewall, and cannot be reestablished for several=20
minutes. This affects all network connections including HTTP and POP, but
t=
he=20
reset is more likely to occur during searching.
Before the search engines censored themselves, many search engines had
been=
=20
blocked, namely Google and AltaVista.[22] Technorati, a search engine for=
=20
blogs, has been blocked.[23]
[edit] Cernet
Several Bulletin Board Systems in universities were closed down or
restrict=
ed=20
public access since 2004, including the SMTH BBS and the YTHT BBS.[24]
[edit] Local businesses
Although blocking foreign sites has received much attention in the West,
th=
is=20
is actually only a part of the PRC effort to censor the Internet. The
abili=
ty=20
to censor content providers within mainland China is much more effective,
a=
s=20
the ISPs and other service providers are restricting customers' actions
for=
=20
fear of being found legally liable for customers' conduct. The service=20
providers have assumed an editorial role with regard to customer content,=
=20
thus became publishers, and legally responsible for libel and other torts=
=20
committed by customers.
Although the government does not have the physical resources to monitor
all=
=20
Internet chat rooms and forums, the threat of being shut down has
caused=20
Internet content providers to employ internal staff, colloquially known
as=
=20
"big mamas", who stop and remove forum comments which may be
politically=20
sensitive. In Shenzhen, these duties are partly taken over by a pair of=20
police-created cartoon characters, Jingjing and Chacha, who help extend
the=
=20
online 'police presence' of the Shenzhen authorities.
However, Internet content providers have adopted some counter-strategies.
O=
ne=20
is to post politically sensitive stories and remove them only when the=20
government complains. In the hours or days in which the story is
available=
=20
online, people read it, and by the time the story is taken down, the=20
information is already public. One notable case in which this occurred was
=
in=20
response to a school explosion in 2001, when local officials tried to=20
suppress the fact the explosion resulted from children illegally
producing=
=20
fireworks. By the time local officials forced the story to be removed
from=
=20
the Internet, the news had already been widely disseminated.
In addition, Internet content providers often replace censored forum
commen=
ts=20
with white space which allows the reader to know that comments critical
of=
=20
the authorities had been submitted, and often to guess what they might
have=
=20
been.
In July 2007, the city of Xiamen announced it would ban anonymous
online=20
postings after text messages and online communications were used to rally=
=20
protests against a proposed chemical plant in the city. Internet users
will=
=20
be required to provide proof of identify when posting messages on the
more=
=20
than 100,000 Web sites registered in Xiamen.[25]
Some hotels in China are also advising internet users to obey local
Chinese=
=20
internet access rules by leaving a list of internet rules and guidelines
ne=
ar=20
the computers. These rules, among other things, forbid linking to
political=
ly=20
unacceptable messages, and inform internet users that if they do, they
will=
=20
have to face legal consequences.[26]
In September 2007, some data centers were shutting down indiscriminately
fo=
r=20
providing interactive features such as blogs and forums. CBS re****ts an=20
estimate that half the interactive sites hosted in China were blocked.
[27]
[edit] International cor****ations
One controversial issue is whether foreign companies should supply
equipmen=
t=20
which assists in the blocking of sites to the PRC government. Some argue
th=
at=20
it is wrong for companies to profit from censor****p including restrictions
=
on=20
freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Others argue that equipment
bei=
ng=20
supplied, from companies such as the American based Cisco Systems Inc.,
is=
=20
standard Internet infrastructure equipment and that providing this sort
of=
=20
equipment actually aids the flow of information, and that the PRC is
fully=
=20
able to create its own infrastructure without Western help. By
contrast,=20
human rights advocates such as Human Rights Watch and media groups such
as=
=20
Re****ters Without Borders argue that if companies would stop contributing
t=
o=20
the authorities' censor****p efforts the government could be forced to
chang=
e.
A similar dilemma faces foreign content providers such as Yahoo!, AOL,
Goog=
le=20
and Skype who abide by PRC government wishes, including having internal=20
content monitors, in order to be able to operate within mainland China.
Als=
o,=20
in accordance with mainland Chinese laws, Microsoft began to censor the=20
content of its blog service Windows Live Spaces, arguing continuing to=20
provide Internet services is more beneficial to the Chinese.[28]
Michael=20
Anti, a Chinese journalist whose blog on Windows Live Spaces was removed
by=
=20
Microsoft, agreed that the Chinese are better off with Windows Live
Spaces=
=20
than without it.[29]
The Chinese version of MySpace, launched in April of 2007, has many=20
censor****p-related differences from other international versions of the=20
service. Discussion forums on topics such as religion and politics are
abse=
nt=20
and a filtering system that prevents the posting of content about
Taiwan=20
independence, the Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, and other "inappropriate
topics"=
=20
has been added.[30] Users are also given the ability to re****t the=20
"misconduct" of other users for offenses including "endangering
national=20
security, leaking state secrets, subverting the government, undermining=20
national unity, spreading rumors or disturbing the social order."[31]
[edit] Reactions
[edit] Legal action
May 9th 2007, Mr. Yetaai (??) sued Shanghai Telecom, a sub-company of
China=
=20
Telecom, because one of his sites[citation needed] was blocked from access
=
in=20
China. He then took a series of steps including raising maintenance
request=
=20
and notarization. His lawsuit was accepted by Pu Dong Court, Shanghai.
Mr.=
=20
Yetaai re****ted it through his online diary (English). He also raised an
it=
em=20
for online ticketing through an article on Digg.
[edit] Liberalization of ***ually oriented content
Although restrictions on political information remain as strong as
ever,=20
several ***ually oriented blogs began appearing in early 2004. Women
using=
=20
the web aliases Muzi Mei (???) and Zhuying Qingtong (????) wrote online=20
diaries of their *** lives and became small celebrities. This was
widely=20
re****ted and criticized in mainland Chinese news media, and several of
thes=
e=20
bloggers' sites are blocked in China to this day. This has coincided with
a=
n=20
artistic **** photography fad (including a self-published book by dancer
Ta=
ng=20
Jiali) and the appearance of pictures of minimally clad women or even
tople=
ss=20
photos in a few mainland Chinese newspapers, magazines and websites. It
is=
=20
too early to tell how far this trend will go, but increasingly, censor****p
=
is=20
applicable to political content rather than to ***uality. This does not
hol=
d=20
true for many dating and "adult chat" sites, both Chinese and foreign,
whic=
h=20
have been blocked. Some, however, continue to be accessible although this=
=20
appears to be due more to the Chinese government's ignorance of their=20
existence than any particular policy of leniency.
[edit] Cor****ate responsibility
On November 7, 2005 an alliance of investors and researchers representing=
=20
twenty-six companies in the U.S., Europe and Australia with over US $21=20
billion in joint assets announced that they were urging businesses to
prote=
ct=20
freedom of expression and pledged to monitor technology companies that do=
=20
business in countries violating human rights, such as China. On December
21=
,=20
2005 the UN, OSCE and OAS special mandates on freedom of expression called
=
on=20
Internet cor****ations to "work together ... to resist official attempts
to=
=20
control or restrict use of the Internet."
[edit] Efforts at breaking through
=09This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can (September 2007).
Wikibooks
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of
Transwiki:Bypassing the Great Firewall of China
The firewall is largely ineffective at preventing the flow of information
a=
nd=20
is rather easily cir***vented by determined parties by using proxy
servers=
=20
outside the firewall. VPN and SSH connections to outside mainland China
are=
=20
not blocked, so cir***venting all of the censor****p and monitoring
features=
=20
of the Great Firewall of China is trivial for those who have these secure=
=20
connection methods to computers outside mainland China available to them.
Since free hosting blog services like Blogger and Wordpress frequently
face=
=20
blockage, bloggers and webmasters aiming for an audience in China often=20
debate merits of the various paid hosting services. Some China-focussed=20
services explicitly offer to move IP address within 30 minutes if your
site=
=20
is blocked by the authorities.[32]
Anonymizer, Inc. provides a free service to allow uncensored and
anonymous=
=20
browsing in China. The software is available through a number of sources,=
=20
including a China-accessible website.
Psiphon[33] is a software project designed by University of Toronto's
Citiz=
en=20
Lab under the direction of Professor Ronald Deibert, Director of the
Citize=
n=20
Lab. Psiphon is a cir***vention technology that works through social
networ=
ks=20
of trust and is designed to help Internet users bypass
content-filtering=20
systems set up by governments, such as China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi=20
Arabia, United Arab Emirates and others.
"We're aiming at giving people access to sites like Wikipedia," a
free,=
=20
user-maintained online encyclopedia, and other information and news
sources=
,=20
Michael Hull, psiphon's lead engineer, told CBC News Online.[34]
Neither the Tor website nor the Tor network are blocked, making Tor (in=20
conjunction with Privoxy) an easily acquired and effective tool for=20
cir***vention of the censor****p controls. Tor maintains a public list
of=20
entry nodes, so the authorities could easily block it if they had the=20
inclination. According to the Tor FAQ sections 6.4 and 7.9, Tor is
vulnerab=
le=20
to timing analysis by Chinese authorities, so it allows a breach of=20
anonymity. Thus for the moment, Tor allows uncensored downloads and
uploads=
,=20
although no guarantee can be made with regard to freedom from
repercussions=
..
In addition to Tor, there are various HTTP/HTTPS Tunnel Services, which
wor=
k=20
in a similar way as Tor. At least one of them, Your Freedom, is confirmed
t=
o=20
be working from China and also offers encryption features for the
transmitt=
ed=20
traffic.
It was common in the past to use Google's cache feature to view blocked=20
websites. However, this feature of Google seems to be under some level of=
=20
blocking, as access is now erratic and does not work for blocked
websites.=
=20
Currently the block is mostly cir***vented by using proxy servers outside
t=
he=20
firewall, and is not difficult to carry out for those determined to do
so.=
=20
Some well-known proxy servers have also been blocked.
Some Chinese citizens used the Google mirror elgooG after China blocked=20
Google. It is believed that elgooG survived the Great Firewall of China=20
because the firewall operators thought that elgooG was not a fully
function=
al=20
version of Google.
As Falun Gong websites are generally inaccessible from mainland China,=20
practitioners have launched a company named UltraReach Internet Corp
and=20
developed a piece of software named UltraSurf to enable people in
mainland=
=20
China to access restricted web sites via Internet Explorer without
being=20
detected.
Other techniques used include Freenet, a peer-to-peer distributed data
stor=
e=20
allowing members to anonymously send or retrieve information, and=20
TriangleBoy.
Browsing Wikipedia is also possible with a custom browser called
Gollum,=20
which can be used without installing it. At present, the Chinese
government=
=20
has not banned searching for Gollum on Google.
|
