Chinese Government Intensifies Control over Broadband Connections

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-5-5/28504.html

CHINA - Broadband users inside China have revealed that they can no longer
access overseas e-mail accounts due to the recently intensified control of
the Internet. A notification has been published by the Chinese Broadband
Control Agency forbidding users from receiving “anti-revolutionary”
information from overseas. The original system administration software has
now expired; all users now have to download the new system administrative
software which is said to be capable of not only filtering all overseas
e-mail accounts, but also of monitoring users. Currently, Yahoo China is
subject to the new controls.
[Editors’ note: Computers in China that can access the Internet, especially
public computers, are required to have special monitoring software that
allows the Chinese Communist regime to monitor a user’s activity on the
Internet.]

Extensive Information Net reported on May 2 that in China, most users of
Windows 98 could not connect via dial-up to the Internet any more due to
these strict new measures. This is because dial-up connections are able to
use proxy servers which can bypass the domestic server that is controlled by
the CCP. This is why the use of broadband connections is being promoted, and
dial-up connections are being eliminated. Broadband connections are being
strictly monitored and controlled by the government, creating the equivalent
of an Intranet.

It is reported that although broadband connections improve speed, all the
websites are filtered, thus making connecting to proxy servers extremely
difficult. Even if a successful connection to a proxy server is made, it
would be immediately terminated. In addition, websites visited through proxy
servers will be made to “disappear.”.The CCP appears to be willing to turn a
blind eye to pornographic websites, but never to those from overseas
containing “anti CCP force” materials.

It seems that the main reason the Chinese government is replacing dial-up
with broadband is to eliminate proxy servers and monitor overseas e-mail
accounts. Once connected through broadband, those who use Hotmail and Yahoo
will be subject to monitoring. Broadband connections have now been installed
in all Internet bars. It is reported that the CCP has intensified its
Internet blockage recently, further stifling the availability of information
regarding this situation inside of China. All that people are permitted to
see are the same kinds of propaganda that are reported by People’s Daily and
CCTV- the mouthpieces of the CCP.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-5-5/28504.html

Face to Face With The Great Firewall of China

http://www.canada.com/technology/sto...91c-b915-a5cbb
1842292

As the Internet was taking flight in the early 1990s, John Gilmore, one of
the co-founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading online
civil liberties group, is credited with having coined the infamous phrase
that "the Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.''
Gilmore's view has since been regularly invoked whenever there are failed
attempts to limit the dissemination of information.

Beginning with a string of cases dating back to the Paul Bernardo trial in
the mid-1990s, the Internet has undermined court-ordered publication bans in
Canada with surprising frequency. The latest incident occurred last month
when a U.S. website posted evidence from the Gomery inquiry that was subject
to a publication ban. The ban was lifted within days, however, as Judge
Gomery acknowledged what had become obvious to all -- supposedly secret
testimony was readily available to anyone with Internet access.

While these events seemingly affirm the notion that the Internet is beyond
the reach of governments and courts, my recent trip to China provided a
powerful reminder that unfettered Internet access is far more fragile than
is commonly perceived. China, which boasts the world's second-largest
Internet user base, is currently home to more than 94 million Internet
users, yet their Internet is far different from ours.

These differences are not immediately obvious. My hotel in Beijing featured
high-speed Internet access much like that offered in hotels throughout North
America. Logging onto the network was a snap and I quickly found that
bandwidth speeds were comparable to those found at home.

It was once I sought to access common news sites that I found myself face to
face with the "Great Firewall of China.'' Google News, a popular aggregator
of news stories from around the world, would not load into my browser,
apparently blocked by a filtering system that employs 30,000 people to
regularly monitor Internet traffic and content. Similarly, while the BBC
website would load, attempts to access news stories on that site yielded
only error messages.

My frustration increased when I attempted to download my own e-mail. While I
was able to access my Canadian-based mail server storing my messages, the
download was short-circuited midway as I suddenly lost the connection.
Although I initially thought that perhaps the error lay at the Canadian end,
when the experience repeated itself, it became clear that the Chinese system
was filtering my email messages and cutting off the connection.

Having experienced limits in accessing both news and email, it came as
little surprise to find that the search engines were subject to similar
restrictions. Searches for articles on circumventing the Chinese filters
yielded a long list of results, none of which could be opened. Moreover,
inputting politically sensitive words such as the "Falun Gong'' cut me off
from the search engines completely.

While I found using the Chinese Internet exceptionally frustrating, most
people I spoke to were resigned to an Internet with limits. They live with
the fact that in recent months the government has shut down thousands of
Internet cafes, an important point of access for many citizens. Many noted
that the censorship "only'' affected political information, but that
business could be conducted online unimpeded. At one academic conference,
Chinese law professors even spoke of the desirability of increased content
regulation and supported government limits on search engine results.

As groups such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders
regularly seek to remind us, the Chinese Internet is not unique. Countries
throughout the Middle East and in parts of Asia employ similar technologies
to limit their citizens' access to a medium that most Canadians now take for
granted.

It would be a mistake, however, to think that the Canadian Internet will
always remain just as free as China's is censored. Canadian law enforcement
officials are actively lobbying for a series of "lawful access'' reforms
that will provide authorities with dramatically increased Internet
surveillance powers. These include mandating real-time network surveillance
capabilities on Canada's biggest Internet service providers and providing
authorities with the right to demand subscriber information without the need
to obtain a prior court order.

While it would be unfair to characterize the lawful access proposal as
comparable to the monitoring and censorship used in the Chinese Internet, my
experience provided a sobering reminder of the dangers inherent in increased
surveillance and weakened judicial oversight.

The Internet may be accessible from Ottawa to Beijing, yet people in these
two cities do not access the same Internet. The challenge in the months and
years ahead will be to promote Gilmore's vision of online freedom through
lobbying for greater access abroad and rejecting unnecessary and potentially
dangerous limits at home.

Michael Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at
the University of Ottawa.

http://www.canada.com/technology/sto...91c-b915-a5cbb
1842292