(Page 2 of 2)
Routed out: China’s efforts to block access to Tor, a tool for anonymous Web surfing, kicked in on September 25. This graphic shows the number of real-time requests from within China for Tor’s directory--an indicator of Tor usage.
Tor Project
The events of late September showed that China is stepping up its blocking efforts, said Wendy Seltzer, a law professor and research fellow at the University of Colorado who founded and developed the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, a project to fight unjustified legal threats to the Internet. "Watching China step up blocking around nationally significant events shows the degree of control they are trying to exercise," added Seltzer, who is also an uncompensated member of Tor's board. "The experience helped to validate Tor's strategy of having lots of defenses in queue."
Tor is now working out ways to more efficiently and rapidly disseminate bridge addresses in the future, including via Twitter. "The issue is, obviously, that the Chinese government could also use Twitter to receive the bridges, and block those, too," adds Lewman. He is working on ways to time responses to such requests to make things more difficult for the government to block. "Writing the code is the easy part. The logic behind it--that's the hard part."
In 2006, the OpenNet Initiative--a research collaboration among several universities--reported filtering in 25 of 46 nations tested. In another forthcoming study, the OpenNet Initiative will report that these efforts are expanding, says Ronald Deibert, a political scientist and director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, one of the participating universities.
The trend of time-sensitive national crackdowns has increased in the past four years, Deibert says. "Often governments block access to information not as static or passive filtering walls, but rather at key moments in time when the information has most value, such as during public demonstrations, key historical events, or election periods," notably including, in recent months, the disputed Iranian election, he adds.
Social media sites have played a huge role in the prodemocracy surge—but states have also been very good at using technology to suppress their people.
Christopher "moot" Poole created 4chan, an online community where people are free to be wrong. Now big investors want a piece of his ideas.
First of all, sorry for Tor.
But keep in mind that Tor is far from anything big or dramtic in daily life here in China if it has just several thousand users. Here a meaningful application counts users by at least millions.
And I am sure more proxies are emerging and used. Since 10 years internet appeared in China, the censorship here is becoming less and less, especially in non-politics or news media areas. Back in 1998 when I first used internet in China, even Newyork Times or Washington Post was blocked. Nowadays accesses to them are just as smooth as in any other countries I've been to.
As for anything cencored (mostly, politics / porn / cult information in Chinese language), I can still get them by a few additional clicks. So do all my friends here, some in the government offices.
Of course, I hope they could open things up tomorrow. But I am patient and I know it would be a long term tug-of-war between conservative and security-in-mind people and more open-minded and information-thirst people here. The trend, though, is crystal clear.
Finally, in terms of technology, I am sure that the same technology against Tor is already used in or will be introduced into western company / government firewalls. They share at least one common enemy with china government firewalls: porn.
as i see it, you must come from Typo, China
(Bankruptted treadful undrestand dramtic Newyork cencored).
In April 09, i sent my wife (vacation in China) 13 emails. She received only 4.
We didn't elect G.W. you forgot or cant read? He had a 90% disapproval rating- wake up!
Not happy here? go back! make me some shoes, size 11.
i sincerely doubt you have been to / care about Tibet.
We have many problems here as well, but we're trying, not denying.
The difference is openness, and honesty.
While both the US (and the West) and China have major problems, the issue here are not the problems but how the problems are dealt with.
We are open people, we are not obsessed with face saving. We openly criticize our own government, and we openly debate the problems. China will not get a free pass. If we can criticize Barack Obama, then why should Hu Jintao get special treatment?
The core issue is that China does not allow free information flow to its citizens. That should be criticized, for the benefit of China.
of the «major problems» that the United States and that fictional entity that you call «the West» have, gabrielg01, is that of the crime against the peace, condemned in the Nürnburg Trials as the most reprehensible of all war crimes, bring, as it does, all the others in its train. That this is the case has been amply demonstrated in all the wars of aggression in which the United States has played a major role over these last six decades. China hasn't gone to war since Deng Xiaoping's adventure in Vietnam in 1979, which was over in about a month. Before posting concerning a «[s]hitty superpower on the rise», a bit of self-reflection on your part concerning the role presently being played by the United States and its satellites in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan might be in order. Calling attention to the mote in one's neighbour's eye is always popular, but the wiser course might be to do something about the beam in one's own instead....
Henri
Self-reflection requires free debate, free opinion, and free criticism. You can find millions of web sites, and thousands of other media outlets that criticize America. And nobody is going to jail for it, and nobody is punished for it.
The day has yet to come when Chinese citizens can practice free self-reflection. There is big beam in your eye, right there.
gab, unfortunately our society here guarantees us the freedom to think freely and the freedom to be thoughtless as well. Unless you have lived in one of those totalitarian regimes like China, N Korea or Vietnam, you haven't begun scratching the surface of their human rights abuses. I don't even know where to begin but just mention religion or freedom of the press and you will see clearly. In N Korea they only allow two songs: one to praise the leader and one for country (I think). This funny but so tragic. What you hear in print is only the surface of it.
Anyone who condemns and compares our society for imprisoning radical in time after our country has been attacked to the actions of a totalitarian regime should go to one of those countries where you can only sing two songs and live there.
henri, you have been living in an insulated life and don't see beyond what the news gives you. The fact that China hasn't "gone to war" does not mean that it's being virtuous. In fact it is aggressively seizing land from their neighbors left and right. You should read up on Uzbeckistan, Laos, and Vietnam. Read up on their aggressive actions -- ramming US 'civilian' survey ships near the disputed Spratley Islands. They have been sending and even colonizing their people all over the world (read on Laos) including Africa and South America. When they make an deal to develop oil or mining, for example, they send tens of thousands of their people to those areas to settle. It's subversive to say the least! When you talk about the totalitarian regimes, you are talking about evil itself.
I believe that healthy & wealthy lives for all the people are the ultimate human rights.
Dear friends, I suggest you learn more about the forces behind the economic & political up and downs.
In China, two books are very popular now: "Currency War" & "Currency War II". I read both of them. I strongly suggest you read them.
http://ontheturningaway.com/blog/?p=1691
Although some say it's just "Conspiracy Theory" and maybe the books do not tell all the truth, they did give me some overview on the Elite Group who's manipulating the lives of all the people around the world.
You will not stick around the above discussions after you learn more.
BTW, why not put some more time on Technologies at "www.TechnologyReview.com"?
Apples and oranges. Neither country is all that free. We are not the country of Jefferson and they are not Chairman Mao's workers paradise.
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
Our list of the 50 most innovative companies, including the following:
On Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to the Feed
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Shitty superpower on the rise :(
That's the problem with China...once they get some muscle, they don't use it for positive things. They use their power for doing shitty things.
Brace yourselves, there are worse things yet to come from China.
Reply
skingw
31 Comments
Shittier superpower on the fall :(
At least we don't have a stupid president who have tens of thousands civilians killed and millions bankruptted, or a nice handsome president who can could earn a nobel for doing nothing. What a superpower on the fall!
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Perhaps you should ask the Tibetans about the tens of thousands of civilians killed. Or you can also ask the people who were in Tienanmen square in 1989. Maybe the Uighurs have a few words to say, as well.
In fact, your nationalist attitude proves my point. China is slowly yet inexorably turning into a fascist state.
Strong, collectivist state control of society (fueled by nationalism), combined with a capitalist economy is the hallmark of fascist societies. Looks like China to me :(
Reply
skingw
31 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Are you in Tiananmen?
Are you in Tibet?
Are you in Xinjiang (do you know how to spell it)?
If I disagree with your paranoid mindset on China, I become anti-democratic, anti-human, for-dictatorship?
At least, I am here.
I am living in this place
I am doing what I can to correct the wrong, make the progress, and keep the open mind to do what I have to do while being patient and sure of my objectives.
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
History had too many catastrophies, not to be paranoid anymore.
Yes, you stay there and fight the good fight for openness. Just try not to get yourself jailed, or killed.
Meanwhile, we'll try to fix some of our own mess here :(
Reply
skingw
31 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
The number of political prisoners in China is probably on the same level of the number of those held in CIA's secret or not-so-secret prisons. And nobody gets killed unless they go violent like some people in Xinjiang did.
Yes, Chinese police and prison systems are treadful. But which developing countries are not? At least, in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, police system are becoming more and more professional. And after local newspaper disclosed several terrible scandles in the prisons, certain policies are adopted to handle them. All this is far from an independent justice system, but it's also far from 10 years ago or 20 years ago.
All in all, in his tenure, Hu Jingtao probably kills and jails much much much less innocent people than GWB.
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Your prison comparison is flawed, simply because we can openly talk about the abuses of our government. We know what happened at Guantanamo, and at Abu Ghraib, and also at the secret CIA prisons in Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia etc.
We have an open, society-wide debate about what torture means (ex. water boarding), and about the issues of prisoner rights (ex. can you keep people locked up without a lawful prosecution?) These problems you can find on the front pages of our newspapers.
By contrast, China has a pathetic, face saving, lying media. Everything is perfect, everything is going well, there are no problems, the leadership is doing a great job, the country is marching forward into a glorious future...You guys are brainwashed.
Reply
bugmenot2
10 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
In the US, you don't go to jail for political opinions.
I suggest you travel to Beijing, go to Tiananmen square with a poster/banner saying "Free Tibet!", or "Free Falun Gong", or whatever other controversial issue...
Then please come back to us, and report on your experience :)) Oh, I forgot, perhaps you will never come back.
Reply
doanwon
76 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
The US having the most prisoners -- whether true or not as bug has stated -- can be explained quite simply. In the US because there is such good respect for human rights that prisoners don't get mistreated. If there are the system will eventually bring the problems to light. So the threat of going to prison is not much of a deterrent as in other countries. Inmates in prison here worry about not getting their favorite books to read or TV programs to see. In other countries... let just say inmates have much more to worry about than whether they will be Bubba's girlfriend or not. They have to worry if they'll live to see tomorrow..
Quite simply, the US is not perfect in every way. But there are few countries on this earth that can come as close.
Reply
seamountie
19 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Boy, you have absolutely no idea of the reality of life behind bars. Must be nice to see life through those rose coloured glasses.
Yes, we in North America don’t starve our prisoners, not do we allow the guards to beat them without reason – we simply allow the prisoners do it.
The danger, cruelty and torture are there, no matter who does it – the state or the inmates.
Reply
doanwon
76 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
seamount, when one is holed up with violent criminals, that is to be expected. I see programs on TV about gangs and so on in prison life and that can be tough if you are not a hard core criminal. The difference over there is that when Bubba goes to prison, he won't have time to be worrying about forming gangs and so on because he'll have just enough energy to last for the day. This brings up my point in that the deterrent is weak over here because the hard core guys are not afraid to go to prison--that's why there are more prisoners here as I pointed out to bug.
Yes, I took the example of prison life here too lightly.
Reply
skingw
31 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Further, dear gabriel, do you know Chinese to undrestand us, our history, our culture? At least I know English to waste my time here with you.
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
I do know Chinese history and culture, and I am learning the language. In fact, I'll be in China shortly.
Reply
astarcc
1 Comment
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
You do not know what fascism is. From your definition, you probably would think the TVA project showed that FDR was fascist.
On the other hand, I heard a guy name Dick Morris on Factor on Fox, a little bit of only, and he actually told the relevant truth about the health bill. I heard him yesterday. I hear he was a clinton guy. I was very shocked to actually hear a relevant truth on national TV. You can probably get the video at the Fox web site. You should see it and classify the data according to a historical knowledge of fascism.
As far as China is concerned, let us recognize that have recently done a good job of increasing the standard living. Fascists impose austerity. and when there is too much resistance, you get a dictatorship, which is the part you are probably familiar with. I happen to think increased standard of living is a good criteria to do a first cut on a nation's political leadership. Here you might evaluate our nation's leadership in the 1987 period to the present. It is true China cannot really keep it up unless there is more political freedom. I doubt you can understand why this is true. But their most immeadiate problem is that they hold a trillion dollars of US debt that will likely become worthless in short order. A little tidbit that came in Monday. M1, as compared to a year ago, has more than doubled. I doubt you will hear that on the national media. Actually six factoids came in. All meaning about the same thing and I venture none of which you will hear in the national media. So most of the time, your freedom is the freedom to be stupid and ignorant. Still, we have some good traditions and so far these have come to the fore in times of crisis.
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Increasing standards of living is good, but depending on how you do it, it can be a Faustian deal.
The Nazis took over a pauper Germany (remember hyperinflation), and they turned it into an economic miracle. Their GDP grew at a breakneck speed. Within a decade Germany grew into an economic superpower. They even held the Olympic games (ha-ha!).
How did they do it? They did it by a "collectivist capitalism". The Chinese today apply the same formula, but they have a different name for it: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics". This is merely rebranding the Nazi economic formula.
And if you must complain about the poor quality of US news, I suggest you take a peek at places like Xinhua or CCTV.
Reply
smithsomian
182 Comments
Re: Shittier superpower on the fall :(
Hundreds of thousands, not tens of thousands...
http://www.medialens.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2613
Reply
gabrielg01
450 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
You missed the point. The link you gave is part of the BBC, which only shows that Western countries deal with their problems openly.
Now I challenge you to also post a Chinese link, which deals with the many problems of that country.
Reply
tazdelaney
10 Comments
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
in the news here in the US in the past days is that several persons involved in the protests against the oligarchs of G20 in pittsburgh have been arrested and had computers and other belongings seized due to their use of twitter... these will likely be charged as terrorists under one of several such laws like the patriot axe. as with most all such bills, it was passed by 94-6 in the senate's one-party plutocracy where last read all but 2 were millionaires, averaging $2.3 million.
it took new zealand whistleblowers to expose the US 'echelon' program of global electronic surveillance and another several years until we learned about the FBI's 'carnivore' program here. then there was the TIA (total information awareness) program which didn't fly through congress until after 911, when it's name was conveniently changed to 'terrorist awareness network.'
famously, yahoo/microsoft/google and other american multinationals have assisted the chinese in their tyrannical suppression of internet freedoms there but does anyone believe that these tools are not in use by this government?
representative harman's bill 'grassroots radicalism and terrorist prevention act' passed both houses of congress easily but has yet to be implemented, only due to expectations of legal attacks by ACLU and EFF. reading this bill, it becomes clear that traitors (to king and country by definition) and terrorists (by current USG definition), such as jefferson, franklin and adams... would now without a single doubt face some hellhole like a rendition outsourced torture chamber.
jefferson said, "any nation which makes a policy of keeping secrets from its own public is no longer working in the best interests of its people.' last i heard, the USG includes 18 secret agencies and is classifying as secret more than 30 million documents, averaging 7 pages per document, as secret. that at least is the number we are told about, seeing as the people who pay for all of this have 'no right,' or 'need-to-know' what is being done in closed rooms by its RULERS. i call it fiefdom and demockery
Reply
msavoy
1 Comment
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
Love the neologism you created for China. :-)
Reply
pete123
1 Comment
Re: Shitty superpower on the rise :(
I agree with you. Our government likes to do shitty things.
Reply