The Great Firewall of China, Continued 484
rcs1000 writes "Slate (no longer owned by Microsoft, and therefore an acceptable place to find stories...) has a terrific article on The Filtered Future and how China's censorship is changing - for the worse - the Internet. The piece makes a few points: firstly, China is really trying (largely succefully) to seperate its Internet from the rest of the World; secondly, it may be possible to use technology to circumvent restrictions, but that makes them no less onoreous; thirdly, the sheer invisibility of the restrictions makes them worse (when Google doesn't even show up articles about democracy, that's no good thing); and finally, some Western companies are actively co-operating with the Chinese government in their censorship. Is this the beginning of the end for the global, unregulated, uncensored, Internet?"
This is why we need MyI2P (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Irony rears its head (Score:2, Informative)
Capitalist dictatorship (Score:3, Informative)
Blame the confusion between free enterprise and democracy for the sorry spectacle of companies from supposedly "democratic" countries going out of their way to cater to the whims of a supposedly "communist" country.
For a long time free enterprise did equal democracy. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was held up as the prime example of a non-capitalist and non-democratic state. Here was proof for the peoples of the developing world that democracy went hand-in-hand with capitalism. China's success proved that this need not be the case.
Some free enterprise appears to be necessary to promote democracy: the right to be as rich as the corrupt bureaucrat next door. But China proved that it's possible to get rich in a supposedly socialist setting even if you're not a card-carrying member of the party. You can make money if you know when to shut up.
It only applies to some ISP's in Norway (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Still, you have to hand it to them (Score:1, Informative)
AIDS only causes harm -- high economic development, which has been retarded by the disease, will naturally lead to 1 and 2 child societies -- just look at Western Europe
Re:China is moving slowly towards a more open soci (Score:3, Informative)
Hello from China (Score:3, Informative)
Well, I just read this article from an Internet connection in Shanghai. It will be interesting to see if it posts.
A shadow from the past... (Score:3, Informative)
China is now trying to prove the opposite. They are trying to control their own people, and motivate them through a shared sense of national purpose and recovery of past greatness.
The last government that tried this was the Nazis. And it took millions of lives to suppress that threat.
The government of China is replaying the experiment. But they have time, numbers, capital, and unlimited reserves of patience on their side.
We are now engaged in the last great test of freedom, people. Wake up, we live in interesting times.
Re:Chinese Internet Users & Democracy (Score:3, Informative)
But before full scale fighting breaks out, you need people who actually have power to start the war. Look at the Islamist who really cause problems: they are well educated people from middle class backrounds.
Re:Still, you have to hand it to them (Score:3, Informative)
1) And end to US occupation of Saudi Arabia (the troops where there primarily to defend it against Iraq)
2) And end to the sanctions against Iraq
3) An end to aid to Israel
As a result of the Iraq war 2 of this 3 demands have been essentially met.