China filtering SMS messages

[dave () farber net]

___

Dave Farber  +1 412 726 9889



...... Forwarded Message .......
From: "Alan A. Reiter" <aareiter () gmail com>
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 10:33:10 -0400
Subj: China filtering SMS messages

Hi Dave,

When Howard Rheingold wrote "Smart Mobs," he discussed how wireless
communications -- such as SMS -- can be a force for change.

Apparently, the Chinese government wants to ensure SMS is not a force
for changing the existing political system.

The "New York Times" today published an article today that leads with,
"China has begun filtering billions of telephone text messages to
ensure that people do not use the popular communication tool to
undermine one-party rule.

"The campaign, announced on Friday by the official New China News
Agency, comes after text messages sent between China's nearly 300
million mobile phone users helped to expose the national cover-up of
the SARS epidemic last year. Text messages have also generated popular
outrage about corruption and abuse cases that had received little
attention in the state-controlled media....

"The dispatch said the purpose was to stop the spread of pornographic
messages and false or deceptive advertising as well as to block
illicit news and information.

"All such companies are being required to install filtering equipment
that can monitor and delete messages that contain key words, phrases
or numbers that authorities consider suspicious before they reach
customers. The companies must contact the relevant authorities,
including the Communist Party's propaganda department, to make sure
they stay in touch with the latest lists of banned topics, executives
in the industry said."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/03/international/asia/03chin.html


Alan

----------------------------------- 
Alan A. Reiter, president
Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing
E-Mail: reiter () wirelessinternet com
Phone: 1-301-951-0385
Weblog:  http://www.CameraPhoneReport.com
Weblog:  http://reiter.weblogger.com
Website:  http://www.wirelessinternet.com

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