IP: China & Internet Censorship

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

To: "John F. McMullen" <johnmac () acm org>

Every country seems to have it's own Internet bugaboo - In the USA, the
would-be censors focus on sexual content; in China and Singapore. It's
criticism of the government; in France, it's use of languages other than
French; in Germany, it's keeping track of the Scientologists. The role of
governments has always been to restict the flow of information - in
democracies, it's limited to national security items (hopefully); in
dictatorships, to whatever material the ruling body finds offensive - but it
seems to many that governments are better off giving up in this area; with
the advent of the Internet, it will not work! (this relates to both
Telecommunications and Senior Seminar courses)

> From USA Today of January 21st:

China gives Net dissident two years
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
HONG KONG - China sentenced a so-called ''cyberdissident'' Wednesday to two
years in prison for using the Internet to subvert state power.
Human rights groups say China, in the midst of a major crackdown on
political activists, made an example of Lin Hai, 31, a Shanghai software
entrepreneur.
''This is a warning to others not to use the Internet to spread
information,'' says Frank Lu of the Information Center of Human Rights &
Democratic Movement in China.
Lin admitted to passing on 30,000 electronic mail addresses within China to
the U.S.-based online dissident publication VIP Reference, but he said he
did it to advertise his software.
His trial, held Dec. 4, was closed to observers, even his wife.
As Internet use grows in China, so do government attempts to monitor it.
Human rights groups report that police departments in China are now being
equipped to monitor Internet content and e-mail.
The names of Internet users also are registered with the government through
Internet service providers.
Still, Internet use is growing fast in China. It has an estimated 2.1
million Internet accounts, up from 1.2 million seven months ago.
If three people use each account, that means more than 6 million Chinese
have access to the Internet.
China's government, too, has embraced the Internet to provide better access
to academic and economic information as it seeks to participate in the
global economy.
But the Internet also has given dissidents a far-reaching and fast-moving
communication vehicle.
The fledgling China Democracy Party, for instance, used the Internet to
publicize its views. And human rights organizations routinely use it to
disseminate information.
Beijing is well aware of the threat.
In a speech last month, China's president Jiang Zemin threatened computer
programmers, along with artists and writers, with stiff jail terms if they
endanger ''state security.''
Lin, looking pale and tired having been detained March 25, was not sure
whether he would appeal, his family said. The government took away his
computer equipment and telephone.
His sentence was light compared to those handed down in recent weeks to
political activists as the government attempts to keep dissent at bay
leading up to the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in
June.
China's most prominent dissident, Xu Wenli, was sentenced to 13 years in
prison.
Qin Yongmin, who was attempting to register the China Democracy Party, was
jailed for 12 years.
Wang Youcai was sentenced to 11 years for subversion. Two of his crimes were
e-mailing Chinese dissidents exiled in the USA and accepting overseas money
to buy a computer.
Two New York-based activists who illegally slipped back into China were
sentenced to three years in a labor camp.

"When you come to the fork in the road, take it" - L.P. Berra
John F. McMullen
johnmac () acm org ICQ: 4368412
http://www.westnet.com/~observer
http://www.westnet.com/~observer/Y2KCOACH.html (Y2K Site)