Kindle Allowing Chinese Unfettered Access To Web

jcl-xen0n writes "Apparently, some Chinese Kindle owners have discovered that they are able to access banned sites such as Twitter and Facebook without a problem. The article speculates that Amazon may be operating a local equivalent to Amazon Whispernet with a Chinese 3G provider. Professor Lawrence Yeung Kwan, of the University of Hong Kong's electrical and electronic engineering department, told the paper that mainland internet patrols might have overlooked the gadget (perhaps because they consider it solely a tool to purchase books). How long before Kindle traffic is locked down?"

Not long

[Gregg Alan]

It's almost too bad this information has been released. On the plus side there could be many people that could grab some information, now that it's public, before it gets blocked. On the other hand, if they don't already know about this workaround they might not ever find out since the normal access to the internet is censored.

Giving myself a headache I am!

Re:Now that everyone is talking about it...

[Anonymous Coward]

You, and quite a few other people, seem to think that only /. is publicizing this. Exactly how often does /. post exclusives or act in any way other than as a news aggregation website?

Also, imagine if only 50 people knew about this. It spread slowly through word of mouth and *eventually* the government shuts it down after, I dunno, 50,000 people learn about it and use it for 3-4 months. They complain, but what can they do? Other than go to jail for dissension.

Now, how about if it's published everywhere and a million people find out about it at once? A million, two million, three, whatever millions of people find out about it because it's so widespread and the Chinese government shuts it down in a week. Three million people cry out in protest. Could something positive happen? Possibly.

The idea that we should hide the news so the government can't find out about it is ridiculous. It just means that when they *do* find out, very few people will be affected leading to a feeling of "no one cares". We should publicize it as much as we can so that, when the shit hits the fan, at least someone out there's got your back.

If you're scheduling an event, you want as many people as you want with you. You don't try to hide it and show up with 20 people. You scream it from the rooftops and end up with a million.

Works for Droid too

[kefler]

Was just in China last week. Own a CDMA Droid 1, which was on international roaming (1x speed). I noticed I could access facebook, so I tried a few other things. Long story short, I was able to access the wikipedia article on Tienamen square while IN tienamen square. Well, briefly then I put the phone away and got out of sight.

Anyone who cares about free access...

[plasticsquirrel]

Anyone who cares about free access to the Internet has some method around the Great Firewall. VPN services are even advertised quite freely in China for foreigners over there (maybe because the officials can't read them). Anyways, despite what many westerners would expect, the Chinese themselves often support the government's general ability to block access to websites. Much like in America, these things are framed as actions taken for the good of the nation, and just like the Americans, the majority will accept that. I had a discussion about this when I was in China, and I was the only one who disagreed with the firewall. Nobody really seemed to miss anything, and they asked me which sites are blocked. I rattled off a few like YouTube and Blogger, but they hadn't heard of them. For video sites, they use Youku and Tudou. For blogs and the like, QQ's services are popular. Perhaps the only exception to any of this is that some younger people like to get around the firewall so they can use Facebook as well (FB is blocked in China), but the Chinese have their own social networking site that is more popular there (RenRen). China is a whole different animal.

Worldwide 3G access and more

[_critic]

I returned to Shanghai from the US and Tokyo recently and was shocked to discover that not only did the 3G China networks bypass the great firewall, but the kindle 3G access fired up easily in all three countries with absolutely no cost to me! . . . FREE 3G . . . Worldwide . . . as far as I can tell. The kindle has already paid for itself. w00t!

Re:Anyone who cares about free access...

[dgower2]

I always wonder whether people with this viewpoint are willingly blind and deaf, or if some dark force is blinding you. Do you think 9/11 (AND all the other terrorism enacted on Americans and others) is fake? Do you believe that is was the US govt? I don't understand. The suicide bombs, car bombs, etc. are on TV and all over the web for everyone to see. What don't you understand? Can anyone actually say that their freedoms have been encroached upon in a demonstrable way because of the Patriot act? My theory is this: people like you feel more intelligent by charging the govt with conspiratorial intentions. It makes you feel like you're ahead of the game, that nobody can get one over on you; yet, you will never provide proof of any of these insinuations. You need a "bad guy" to throw stones at, yet when there exists one that couldn't be more perfect to hate (radical islamists who hate us for our freedom, faith, or simply because they were brainwashed to, you still choose to point your finger at a govt that is trying to protect you from those that want to "chop your neck" because you have different beliefs and ways of life. Can anyone here provide an example of how the Patriot act has altered their way of life?

Re:Not long at all

[betterunixthanunix]

Well, let's see. The United States does business with Saudi Arabia, despite the abysmal human rights record of that country. The United States has installed several cruel dictators in South America, to help protect corporate interests there. The list of cruel, tyrannical governments that the United States has provided direct aid to or has kept open trade with is long. Why should China be any different, I wonder? What interest does the USA have in free speech or free press, or dismantling firewalls?