Great firewall of China: Gates helps Beijing to delete freedom from net (1 Viewer)

[withoutaface]

Great firewall of China: Gates helps Beijing to delete freedom from net
By Jonathan Watts in Beijing
June 16, 2005

China, the world's biggest communist nation, and Microsoft, the world's most powerful computer company, have teamed up to produce a censored web blog service that has been condemned by civil liberties groups.

Bill Gates's company is helping censors remove "freedom" and "democracy" from the internet in China with software that prevents so-called bloggers from using these and other politically sensitive words on their websites.

The restrictions, which also include an automated denial of "human rights", are built into MSN Spaces, a blog service introduced in China last month by Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology, a venture in which Microsoft holds a 50 per cent stake.

Users who try to include such sensitive terms in subject lines are warned: "This topic contains forbidden words. Please delete them."

Even the most basic political discussion is difficult because "communism", "socialism" and "capitalism" are blocked from entering cyberspace in this way, though they can be used in the body of the main text.
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A Microsoft spokesman said the restrictions were the price the company had to pay to spread the positive benefits of blogs and online messaging.

"Even with the filters, we're helping millions of people communicate, share stories, share photographs and build relationships. For us, that is the key point here," said Adam Sohn, a sales and marketing director at MSN.

For the Chinese Government, which employs an estimated 30,000 internet police, the restrictions are an extension of a longstanding policy to control the web so it can be used by businesses but not by its political opponents.

For Microsoft it appears to be a concession to authoritarianism on the net. Mr Gates recently heaped praise on China's leaders, who have mixed market economics with rigid political control. "It is a brand new form of capitalism, and as a consumer it's the best thing that ever happened," he said.

Microsoft is not alone in accepting censorship requests from China. The free speech group Reporters Without Borders says Yahoo has a similar policy.

The group said any justification for collaborating with Chinese censorship based on obeying local laws did "not hold water" and that the multinationals must "respect certain basic ethical principles" wherever they operated.

China's information industry ministry, meanwhile, has ordered owners of blogs and bulletin boards to register their sites by the end of this month or have them shut down.

The ministry's website said: "The internet has profited many people but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence and feudal superstitions and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people's spirits."

The Guardian

CENSORED IN CYBERSPACE

Words forbidden to Chinese bloggers:

Freedom, democracy, human rights, demonstration, Tiananmen, massacre, June 4 (the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre), terrorism, communism, socialism, capitalism, Taiwanese independence, Tibet, Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, China + corruption.

Acceptable words:

Protest, anarchy, revolution.



Should Microsoft be using its position to put pressure on the Chinese government, or is this an inevitable cost of globalisation?

 

[gordo]

i read about that in new scientist

i think its good

 

[William_Lawry]

only in china

 

[loquasagacious]

Rule one of Business where theres a buck to be made don't let scruples stand in the way.

 

[santaslayer]

Bill Gates is my HeRO.

 

[townie]

cant the chinese just do wat every1 does to avoid censorship in swearing e.g. dem0craci,

 

[loquasagacious]

Second two links are broken (access denied) which I imagine spoils the intended effect somewhat....

Yes 'hardcore' internet users/political activists will doubtless use different words, however that is unavoidable the real power of this blocking is to prevent non-political chineese citizens from being able to access information contrary to the party line. Note that the words excluded when searched would likely contain negative conotations eg communism whereas those allowed eg revolution would yield only positive connotations.

 

[spin spin sugar]

they didnt work for me either asqy

 

[0o0]

who saw bill gates get creamed with a pie in public like the bitch he is a few years back?

funny

 

[loquasagacious]

Is it your personal blog or something asqy?

Made the mistake of putting democracy or communism in the title maybe?

 

[paper cup]

Big Business is Big Business - you don't let stuff like human rights get in the way of making a profit.

Yes, Bill Gates is an absolute bastard.

yes for Bill Gates it's about making money

look I think everyone is just making too much of a deal
I don't think there are many people in China who want to stage a revolution against the CCP, I mean the political repression is horrible and so on but the standard of living has gone up and CHINA IS A RELATIVELY PRIMITIVE SOCIETY SO SOME THINGS CAN'T BE HELPED WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER
a lot of Chinese don't have the Western consciousness with its inbuilt democratic ideas

 

[withoutaface]

yes for Bill Gates it's about making money

look I think everyone is just making too much of a deal
I don't think there are many people in China who want to stage a revolution against the CCP, I mean the political repression is horrible and so on but the standard of living has gone up and CHINA IS A RELATIVELY PRIMITIVE SOCIETY SO SOME THINGS CAN'T BE HELPED WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER
a lot of Chinese don't have the Western consciousness with its inbuilt democratic ideas

That's because it's been hidden away from them.

This kind of situation reminds me far too much of 1984, look, they've even employed 30 000 thought police.

 

[zenger69]

Interesting your talking about this topic and most people being westerners despise china for their human rights records and freedom of chinese citizens. They think government officials are evil orgres that kill people just because they tried to defect or something.

my dad's involved in the agriculture and future free trade agreements, here's some photos I wanted to post up with government official meeting.

I wanted to say, the officials are really funny people.

 

[zenger69]

by the way my dad's the one with a tie and looks more westerner-ish than the others.

 

[withoutaface]

Suppression of information is central to China's internet policy, and Microsoft is guilty of collaborating with Beijing.

It is fashionable to appease China. Over the past few weeks we have had the unedifying spectacle of the Australian Government turning its back on a defecting Chinese diplomat, and last week we saw Microsoft agreeing to censor blogs on its new Chinese MSN Spaces network that contain words such as freedom and democracy.

Microsoft justifies its decision by saying that it "abides by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates". Microsoft once again demonstrates that morality takes a back seat to profitability.

It was easy to criticise China when it was the Cold War enemy, and when we didn't trade with it. Now China's economic might excuses all manner of toadying.

We may buy lots of cheap Chinese goods, China may buy shiploads of our coal and wheat, but the Middle Kingdom is still a repressive, militaristic totalitarian state that routinely kills and tortures its own citizens for small acts of dissent.

Free-speech advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontieres estimates that more than 60 "cyber dissidents" are behind bars in China, often for no greater crime than expressing views in internet chat rooms uncomplimentary to the Government.

China opened the country to the internet in 1995, but since President Jiang Zemin complained in 2001 about the volume of "pernicious information" filtering through to the Chinese population, China has embarked on an extensive program of technical and legislative measures designed to restrict access to large parts of the internet.

China employs more than 30,000 people to oversee the internet and impose bans on offending sites. But it is becoming more difficult. There are more than 100 million net users in China, and Chinese is now the second-most common language on the web.

Most Chinese internet users cannot afford their own computer. They gain access from work or from one of the hundreds of thousands of internet cafes. Most of these cafes have broadband access - there are now more than 14 million ADSL lines in China.

Last year China began an extensive program of shutting down unlicensed internet cafes. The Chinese news agency Xinhua has reported that 47,000 were closed in 2004.

Regulations have been promulgated prohibiting children younger than 18 from entering the cafes, which must be at least 200 metres from a school.

Cafe owners must block inappropriate websites and report illegal behaviour. In Shanghai, some internet cafes are monitored by closed-circuit TV to ensure the regulations are followed, and others employ staff to check what sites users are accessing.

China has ways of censoring what its people see on the internet. All internet traffic into China filters through just nine gateways, enabling the authorities to easily block or restrict access. On my last visit to China I could not even access The Age or The Sydney Morning Herald websites.

Google News pages are often shut down. Users are encouraged to use the bowdlerised Chinese version, which cannot access sites blocked by the Government. Google and other search engines do not function properly in China, as the Government routinely blocks sites dealing with subjects such as Tibet, sex, Taiwan, religion, the Falun Gong sect, drugs, and even mental health.

Harvard University's Ben Edelman, who has studied China's web censorship practices, believes that as many as 10 per cent of all websites are restricted in some way.

Now the Chinese Government, with Microsoft's complicity, has started real-time monitoring, which extends to email, blogs and chatrooms. All internet users must register with the police within 30 days of opening a web account. And in order to have the populace spy on itself, China last year established a site (www.net.china.com) where users can report inappropriate websites and usage.

Chinese websites must conform to more than 60 laws passed in the past 10 years dealing with internet content and usage.

Portals and internet service providers are legally responsible for any material accessed through them and must sign the Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry, which contains 31 articles appealing to "patriotism, observance of the law, fairness and trustworthiness".

The restrictions have been effective only in the short term and only because the technology exists to enable them.

Never has a regime so bent on secrecy had to face a technology so pervasive as the internet. But truth eventually wins out over attempts to suppress it.

Appeasing Beijing is not only morally reprehensible, it places those who do so on the wrong side of history.

Not exactly breaking news, but a summary of the kind of censorship practices in place.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

i think its horrible. but theres nothing we can really do about it.

 

[uni_dust]

wake up my fellow friends

can't believe western people are still getting the knowledge of china from what are told by the western media

can't believe most people are talking about china without basic understanding of its current situation of the country, its culture and history

my opinion about the firewall:

great firewall is acturally not that horrible, we can still express our idea by changing the chinese charactors into "ping ying"(phonetic alphabet for chinese prounce) or many other ways people can guess

setting up a greate firewall and have a proper control over the internet is a very correct policy in the current situation of China.

Because as a tool, internet can be used to instigate people to make big trouble.
its just a way to make more resistance from ferment


e.g. the evil cults Falun Gong is banned in China. i was impressed by their stupidity

(typical therom 1 : the earth is the litter bin of the universe)
(typical therom 2 : there is a wheel in your stomach....)
(typical therom 3 : people believe they don;t need to have a doctor when they get sick)
(consequences of therom 3 was that many people died and got crazy)

must mention, China is a religion free country, you can find all other religions except evil cults like Falun Gong or Sun(from euro?)

Falun Gong used the freedom of religion as pretence to instigate and organize thousands people to get together in Tian An Men Square and yelling so-called democracy and human rights.

It was so clear that Falun Gong was a political tool controlled and supported by someone, trying to bring down the govn. (agitator leader of Falun Gong went to US, any people with positive IQ will know who is the back supporter )

another example was the Anti-RightWing-of-Japan protest. people were informed and gathered illegally through SMS, Email and Chat softs(what the funny thing was that i received a Illustration of the Protest: a map include , the path,time, what u need to bring , the notes about what u should/shouldn't do,e.g. don;t throw rocks , but eggs, tomatoes are ok )

imagine that if you try to organize a terror, what will the CIA do to you?

the firewall just helps govn to prevent the rebellion

Remember 1: u can still talk about democracy ,human rights ,policies in a rational way
learn chinese, understand chinese please
go to chinese BBS e.g. www.jczs.sina.com.cn,
have a look what they r talking about
(heard about that taxi drivers are not allowed to talk about politics in VCT australia? is that true. As we all know , taxi drivers in Beijing are famous of talking. they are talking box.)


Remember 2: China has a long way to go be become a politically , finacially mature. only rationality and patience will help.

Remember 3: its not a secrete that all so-called democracy , human rights, freedom are sweet cannonball. China has its own way to apply democracy , human rights and freedom. and of course its doing well and getting much better.

Remember 4: there is nothing absolute , all democracy , human rights , freedom are relative

last but not least: a country which imitate the western political, social structure and financial system without clearly understanding their own situation will be suffered and the people in that country suffer most. e.g. south american countries , Soviet Russia.

 

[withoutaface]

It was so clear that Falun Gong was a political tool controlled and supported by someone, trying to bring down the govn. (agitator leader of Falun Gong went to US, any people with positive IQ will know who is the back supporter )

Josef Mengele moved to Argentina after WW2. Does that mean Argentina are completely supportive of his actions at Auschwitz?

 

[Not-That-Bright]

can't believe western people are still getting the knowledge of china from what are told by the western media

Yes, because our media that isn't told word for word what to write by the government is much less bias than ur media

great firewall is acturally not that horrible, we can still express our idea by changing the chinese charactors into "ping ying"(phonetic alphabet for chinese prounce) or many other ways people can guess

Yea it's not that bad... but why even do it? It seems a little weird doesn't it? Use your head... why would they pay bill gates a whole bunch of money to do something any idiot can get around?

Because as a tool, internet can be used to instigate people to make big trouble.
its just a way to make more resistance from ferment

Yes, but the free-exchange of idea's is usually fine as long as it doesn't lead to violence. i.e. rape sites organising rapes or whatever.

imagine that if you try to organize a terror, what will the CIA do to you?

Well yes if they found out i was trying to bomb a building i'd probably go to gaol for a long, long time. But you were talking about a PROTEST, here in Australia you can protest about anything as long as you're not violent...

the firewall just helps govn to prevent the rebellion

We know this, but if some people don't want the government, why shouldn't their voices be heard?

China has a long way to go be become a politically , finacially mature. only rationality and patience will help.

Well they're really not going about it the right way with stupid things like blocking the word "democracy".

its not a secrete that all so-called democracy , human rights, freedom are sweet cannonball. China has its own way to apply democracy , human rights and freedom. and of course its doing well and getting much better.

Of course It's doing well? Can you even visit websites like human rights watch?

there is nothing absolute , all democracy , human rights , freedom are relative

Yes but we believe that the chinese government's actions aren't right, so we want to voice our opinions and be heard... Hopefully while still being respectful towards their views...

a country which imitate the western political, social structure and financial system without clearly understanding their own situation will be suffered and the people in that country suffer most. e.g. south american countries , Soviet Russia.

Basically every country that's imitated western political, social, and financial structure is doing fine actually =/

heard about that taxi drivers are not allowed to talk about politics in VCT australia? is that true. As we all know , taxi drivers in Beijing are famous of talking. they are talking box.

They might have been asked to stop, but they won't... trust me our taxi drivers are very talkative too.

 

[uni_dust]

can't believe such a irresponsible article on smh

Most Chinese internet users cannot afford their own computer.

1、用户上网地点

第十五次CNNIC调查结果显示，67.9%的网民在家里上网，41.1%的网民在单位上网，24.5%的网民在网吧、网*、网络咖啡厅上网，18.2%的网民在**上网，2.1%的网民移动上网、地点不固定，0.4%的网民在公共图书馆上网，0.5%的网民通过其他方式上网(如图3-1所示)。通过调查结果可以看出，家里和单位依然是网民上网的主要地点。

from :http://news.xinhuanet.com/it/2005-01/20/content_2484989.htm

basically the survey says 67.9% internet users are at home(at least), 41.1% users are at office(at least) , 24.5% in internet cafe(at least).....
i never see my friends go to internet cafe to surf internet, its so stupid , internet cafes are mainly the battle place of the games in China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We may buy lots of cheap Chinese goods, China may buy shiploads of our coal and wheat, but the Middle Kingdom is still a repressive, militaristic totalitarian state that routinely kills and tortures its own citizens for small acts of dissent.

== "kills and tortures its own citizens for small acts of dissent" it was in culture revolution. 40 years ago. if it still happens now, i will be arrested immediately.
== "militaristic totalitarian state" who is the real militaristic totalitarian ????
china ??? u kidding. china 's military expenditurein is 1/19 of the USA, 16billion for china in 2002 , around 300billion for USA in 2002 , and 488billion in 2004 after Iraq's war. who the hell is militaristic totalitarian ??????????????????

It was easy to criticise China when it was the Cold War enemy, and when we didn't trade with it. Now China's economic might excuses all manner of toadying.

== its a typical thought of Nietzsche. thirsty for the enemy
==Stop trade with it if u can !!!

China last year established a site (www.net.china.com) where users can report inappropriate websites and usage.

=== so funny!!!! that website just provide corparate server agent!!!!!nothing to do with inappropriate websites and usage.. it seems the writer must failed in chinese

where the hell the infuser get all these ridiculous
just can't bear all the unfair about China
this stupid infuser from smh is going to be on the wrong side of history!!!!!

OMG!!! The western "monster china thought police" have infiltrated the BOS forums!!!!!