BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | The great firewall of China
This is an interesting article on today's BBC News Website.
Wherever I am in the world, I like to keep up with events by checking out the BBC on the internet. Although not as impartial as I'd like, what with the Beeb being firmly in the stranglehold of Tony Blair's paranoia, it's pretty OK, with decent up-to-date content.
Imagine being in a place where access to the BBC News website was blocked. Completely blocked. Without question.
That's China, apparently. With a desire to protect its citizens from the evils that lie on the Web (like information and news), the Chinese IT Police have the ability to block access to any internet site. Banned sites also include Wikipedia. People can get round this by being nifty with proxy servers and the like, but it's all a bit of a faff to get the latest footie scores.
And we thought our employers' IT Nazi Bastard Police were bad?
But one thing that the Chinese can do that some of us can't (from work), is blog. Imagine it, millions of people, striving for free speech and information; they find the world open to them in the Blogosphere. Well, they need to get their acts together because, on my "Next Blog" blog cruises, I'm sure I've come across some Chinese blogs and they're all really dull: no donkey fucking; no Daleks; no challenges to huge retail institutions; no political satire; no taking the piss.
It's quite good living in the West (sometimes). Given all this freedom and all we use it for is to take the piss.
5 comments:
Yay! First!
I feel sorry for the citizens of China, sometimes. A lot of the time, in fact.
It seems abso-fucking-lutely amazing and unbelieveable that a country which produces the vast majority of the technological gadgets that we aspire to own, are not allowed to possess them themselves.
As for blogging, there have been many cases, highlited recently, of Chinese bloggers being imprisoned and tortured for speaking out against the regime. So not surprising that most of them are as boring as fuck.
A number of support sites, campaigning for greater freedoms for Chinese, Iraqi, Iranian and other bloggers have sprung up. There have even been trade talks attempting to levy pressure on some governments.
One example is 'Reporters without borders'.
More worryingly though, is the recent participation of Microsoft and Yahoo - both massive supporters of the spread of the electronic and blogging revolution in actively assisting, yes assisting, such governments in censorship by way of installing military strength 'filtering' systems to further preclude innocent citizens from accessing the wider world.
And all for money and trade-inroads into those countries. Much in the same way as the UK abhors instruments of torture and gushes about how 'anti' it is - then goes on to develop those very same instruments for export.
Fucking disgraceful.
中國當局真正地是痛苦在臀部。 壞蛋。 好廚夫雖則。
噢和貪心和Tazzy 是陰戶!!!!
Well, we're all happy to exploit the sweatshop of the world in order to have cheapo goods over here.
I can't translate what SID wrote, perhaps he'll come back and help me out.
We understood what he said perfectly. You must have something wrong with the fonts on your PC or summat.
It reads...
'I'm a stoopid Irish cunt. But when I grow up, I'll be big, brave, strong and handsome. Just like Piggy's Superhero Tazzy who I lurrrrrve'
Gee, thanks SID. I love him too.
That is so sweet.
I blame this new Office software, it still has a few glitches in it.
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