Protesting China's Required Censorship Software 63
dinoyum writes "Censorship in China is nothing new, but the level of action taken to force Chinese citizens to comply has garnered global recognition. China marked the date July 1st, 2009 as the day manufacturers will be forced to install filtering software on all new PCs. While many have resorted to digitally lashing out against Green Dam, Chinese artist and designer of the famous Bird's Nest at the Beijing Olympics, Ai Weiwei has decided upon a different approach. '[He wants] a general internet strike — no work, no games, no email or anything else online — for 24 hours on the date the government plans to require censorship software on all new computers, he says, will be a quiet act of rebellion. Not coincidentally, July 1 is the 88th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. Though he posted the idea, Ai wants to leave the meaning to those who participate. "I gave almost no explanation about why I'm doing it," Ai said. "I just give the structure and people will fill in their own meaning. I don't want to be political first. I wanted to set up an act that everyone can easily accept, and then realize the power later. I want people to see their own power," he said.'"
Green Damn Exploit (Score:2, Interesting)
Will tourists be obligated to install this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Will visiting foreigners (tourists, businessmen, etc)be obligated to install this software at the customs desk at the airport when entering the country? Would be a good reason not to go to China..
Re:Will tourists be obligated to install this? (Score:1, Interesting)
Probrably not. If you have white skin and round eyes, the Chicoms don't give a hoot what you say in English. I (American) openly discussed the Falon Gong with a Brit in a Beijing restaurant where the waiters listen in on your conversations.
You're simply not worth the effort and the PR flack.
Pro tip: when in China, don't eat at restaurants where the waiters wear white badges with red stars on them.
Ai Who? (Score:2, Interesting)
Quick survey of the Beijing internet cafe I'm in now: most Chinese don't know who he is, at least among the computer/wang ba/internet cafe crowd. If they do, it's as an artist/saw his name on the list of Bird's Nest designers. And they don't care. They're not installing the software, mandate or mandate, and if it comes preinstalled, they don't care as long as they can still play games/surf the net/etc. They were more pissed by the idea that this schmuck (artist and designer though he is, once you tell the youth to get offline, he's a schmuck) would tell them to get off the net for 24 hours. A few pointed out that any protest would be a drop in the bucket of hundreds of millions of internet users.
If there's 400 million people online, and a few million dont log on for a day, does anyone notice? Or even care? Just an annoyance for those participating, proposed by some artist who is now meddling with government shtuffs. If you're gonna protest this, this isn't the way to go- it harms the participants and achieves nothing (unless the software uninstalls itself if not used in the 1st 24 hours on that one day). Demonstrating the flaws of the program would change the government's mind more than anything- but Chinese computers as so full of holes it hardly matters (Xunlei, ubiquitous unpatched pirated windows running IE6).