China blocking

[svidya]

The OpenNet Initiative says that 30 or more countries are actively engaging in internet censorship now.

According to ONI,

"China has earned the dubious distinction as the world leader in filtering Internet content. The Chinese state-run Internet censoring system is without parallel, both in the technical sophistication of the filtering apparatus and in the breadth of topics subject to blocking."

This PBS posting from last April describes how filtering works in China:

Government filtering occurs at the nine Internet Access Points (IAPs) where China connects to the global Internet. These IAPs provide bandwith to hundreds of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which must register with the state and censor the Web sites on their services.
More and here

 

[RogueWriter]

Just sorrowful that worldwide business is not stepping up to the plate on this issue. The corporate world totally has China by the nuts, if they would simply apply pressure. Jeeese, WalMart alone surprasses every country but, like, 5 in gross exports. There needs to be a Union of sorts, companies that require a specific code of conduct from China, which would include unrestriced access to the internet.

As it is, companies like Google, Wal Mart and others are empowering China with totalitarianism.

 

[labrocca]

I guess you don't understand how communism works. Wal Mart nor any other corporate entity will be able to pressure the Chinese government. Most of the companies kiss the ass the of the Chinese government just to get in. That includes Google, Microsoft, and WalMart.

 

[JimCato.com]

In 5 years time or maybe before that they would have lost theier battle against the cencure... its all about economic...they are tryng to have a powermarket but it will never happen, its gonna be a traders market in China and on the Internett so the cencure will be a lost case for them...

and they have to follow the wto rules...

 

[Ronald Regging]

I agree with labrocca. The first priority of any government is to maintain control. China is a communist country with the largest population in the world. Imagine being the Chinese government and trying to quell an uprising of millions and millions of people. They just aren't going to take the chance of that happening. Also yes, companies kiss the ass of the Chinese government to get in the door, because once again, they have the largest population in world, which equates to a massive market. You're also talking about companies who use chinese/taiwanese/philipines labor to produce alot of their goods for next to nothing. They obviously aren't too concerned with human rights to begin with

I don't agree with censorship, but then again, I don't live in a communist country. You can't really look at two countries with entirely different political makeups and say that censorship is outrightly wrong. The Chinese government also makes it illegal for people to have more than 1 child. Alot of people see this as a human rights violation as well. But when you're running a country with that many people, there are things to consider and things that need to be done in order to prevent massive problems the likes of which no other country in the world has ever faced. Not saying I agree with it, but I understand the position they are in.

 

[shockie]

great post slip

but in a way, i think china is being foolish by going overboard on a plethora of issues. all countries need to maintain control and censorship whether they are communist or democratic, but sometimes giving in a bit is a better way to maintain control than being a tight _ss.