China Explains Internet Situation In Whitepaper 115
eldavojohn writes "In a new whitepaper, China has declared the Internet to be 'the crystallization of human wisdom' and officially issued what appears to be a defense of its policies on Web censorship, while at the same time making contradicting statements like 'Chinese citizens fully enjoy freedom of speech on the Internet' and (in the same paper) 'Laws and regulations clearly prohibit the spread of information that contains content subverting state power, undermining national unity, [or] infringing upon national honor and interests.' The paper also claims some questionable superlatives such as 'China is one of the countries suffering most from hacking.' On the positive side, this 31-page document might be offered as an operating guide for businesses, like Google, looking to understand exactly what the law is surrounding the Internet in China. The document is a rare glimpse of transparency in China's regulations."
Re:Contradictory? (Score:3, Informative)
The word "freedom" in legal contexts means not only that the government won't try to stop you from doing what you're free to do, but also that the government won't punish you for doing it. That's the standard definition Slashdot, and the rest of the world, has been operating under ever since the idea of freedom became important. No loopholes here.