Technically Geeking: The Great Firewall of China
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a blogumn by Justin Time
Photo Credit: Amoeblog (www.amoeblog.com)
Hot on the heels of news that the Chinese government is blocking its citizens from viewing websites containing stories related to the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square, yesterday the government unveiled plans to require all new PCs sold in China to have pre-installed censorship software.
The software can be remotely updated to block access to certain websites, and the software developer is a government-backed company, so basically they can block any site they decide is unfit for the people to see. Today that means sites related to the Dalai Lama and Tienanmen Square, but what comes next?
I know censorship and China go together like chocolate and peanut butter, but this news astounded me in this day and age. China has the largest population in the world and may have already surpassed the US as the most powerful economic force. It is shocking that such a great and powerful nation could have so little respect for the intelligence of its people.
Chinese netizens can get around the filters by talking in code, but just imagine if you wanted to say you disapproved of *water boarding* of *detainees* in a public forum here, and you could not, so you had to say, I don’t like *cheesecake* on *Thursdays*. It does make me realize how much I take my freedom for granted. I don’t deserve these freedoms any more than the Chinese people do.
Of course, it’s all done under the guise of protecting children from pornography. C’mon… People can install their own parental control software that does not call the secret police when you google “Tibet.”
I am not sure what to do about this horrifying case of gargantuan-scale censorship, other than call out a few code words to our geek brothers and sisters in China: Uninstall. Wipe. Reboot. Scan. Mac. Linux.
Justin, I had no idea. This is pretty terrifying on several different levels.
Justin, I had no idea. This is pretty terrifying on several different levels.
i'm a little surprised that China even let it's citizen's know. It seems the more effective way to smoke out would-be dissenters is to put the spyware in computers on the DL.
Also, I think the Chinese gov't is no match for their computer nerds. They'll definitely build some kind of work around for these machines and knowing Chinese pirates, they'll soon be available at local markets for a nominal fee.
Still, this is heinous, and I also wonder if it'll make new computers run slower.
i'm a little surprised that China even let it's citizen's know. It seems the more effective way to smoke out would-be dissenters is to put the spyware in computers on the DL.
Also, I think the Chinese gov't is no match for their computer nerds. They'll definitely build some kind of work around for these machines and knowing Chinese pirates, they'll soon be available at local markets for a nominal fee.
Still, this is heinous, and I also wonder if it'll make new computers run slower.
I think this will keep a lot of Chinese hackers busy but in the end the info will get out.
I think this will keep a lot of Chinese hackers busy but in the end the info will get out.
Maybe they announced it because they knew that geeks would find out about it, and there would be a public backlash. With the announcement they had a chance to spin it as anti-porn software.
One day soon, the Chinese people are not going to take this anymore. There must be literally millions of outraged nerds over there right now.
Sadly, China makes it really hard to organize. When I was over there we were put in foreigner's dorms — no we weren't allowed to stay with actual Chinese students — but in the Nanjing half of the program, we were allowed to literally purchase a student, hand-selected by the university, who stayed with us in our rooms and helped us with our Chinese homework and immersion.
Anyway, our purchased student took my roommate and me to her dorms for a visit — which we had to schedule w/ the university about 2 weeks in advance. There were 8 people to a dorm room and they had no common spaces other than small bathrooms with showers that didn't have hot water. Students also were not allowed to use classrooms to meet or for anything other than classes.
Only the foreigner's dorms had common areas. And there weren't a lot of places where the Chinese people could meet and organize in general without prying eyes that might report you to the government.
The Chinese government is very good at what they do. And I hate to say this, but I doubt that there will ever be an uprising or even public backlash. It would be too hard to organize as the oppression of speech is systemic, not willynilly.
Maybe they announced it because they knew that geeks would find out about it, and there would be a public backlash. With the announcement they had a chance to spin it as anti-porn software.
One day soon, the Chinese people are not going to take this anymore. There must be literally millions of outraged nerds over there right now.
Sadly, China makes it really hard to organize. When I was over there we were put in foreigner's dorms — no we weren't allowed to stay with actual Chinese students — but in the Nanjing half of the program, we were allowed to literally purchase a student, hand-selected by the university, who stayed with us in our rooms and helped us with our Chinese homework and immersion.
Anyway, our purchased student took my roommate and me to her dorms for a visit — which we had to schedule w/ the university about 2 weeks in advance. There were 8 people to a dorm room and they had no common spaces other than small bathrooms with showers that didn't have hot water. Students also were not allowed to use classrooms to meet or for anything other than classes.
Only the foreigner's dorms had common areas. And there weren't a lot of places where the Chinese people could meet and organize in general without prying eyes that might report you to the government.
The Chinese government is very good at what they do. And I hate to say this, but I doubt that there will ever be an uprising or even public backlash. It would be too hard to organize as the oppression of speech is systemic, not willynilly.