Archive for: Censorship
While half a world away the events in the UK riots are captivating the world for not only the violence that’s occurred, but the methods in which local governments and law enforcement are looking at curbing future public unrest — cellular/social networking blackouts. And while some critics in the U.S. may stand up and call out UK officials for the blatant misuse of power, the problem of censorship and social blackouts are just as alive and real in the U.S…
Often times when we speak of censorship it usually entails some sort of government/political tie-in. Though admittingly there are many other areas in society where “censorship” rears its ugly head. Unfortunately for Duke Nukem PR firm The Redner Group, today is the day in which the world learns just how shallow they really are. A couple of tweets sent out late yesterday from @TheRednerGroup threatened blacklisting journalists for negative reviews of the new Duke Nukem game…
- December 30, 2010 12:29 pm
Internet phone services such as Skype are about to have a much harder time operating within China’s borders, if at all. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that “We are carrying out with relevant authorities a campaign to crack down on illegal Voice over Internet Protocol phone services” — In this case, “illegal” means any service that is not state-owned and under the direct control of the Chinese government. On that same note, vice-minister Xi Guohua was quoted by the Beijing Morning Post saying that “only state-owned major Chinese telecommunications operators were licensed to provide internet phone services linking telephones and computers”.
In a country with 450 million+ internet users, such a restriction has far-reaching consequences that will affect one of the world’s largest internet markets. Not surprisingly, Chinese citizens are already voicing their displeasure on internet forums and websites, claiming the crackdown is being enforced solely for the benefit of state-owned monopolies and their over-priced services — services that Skype and others offer at much lower costs. Regardless, such a crackdown is a disappointing and unnecessary.
- December 21, 2010 6:55 am
Four days — that’s how long the unofficial Wikileaks iOS app lasted in the App Store. Sometime late last night, Apple removed said app without any explanation as to why. Yes, the site has posted controversial material. But thats what news organizations do. They report the news, regardless of what it is. The man behind Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has an equally questionable drama surrounding his personal life too with various accounts of sexual assault originating in Sweden. But even with all that considered, is it enough to warrant removing the app from the App Store?
Apple can and does do whatever it wants in regards to app approvals. That’s the nature of their closed system. And while Wikileaks supporters can still find news pertaining to the site itself as well as the content it continues to publish each and every day all over the web, the removal of the app isn’t really that big of a deal. Apple censoring current events just because they are “unpopular” is.
Thoughts? Should Apple have pulled the Wikileaks app?
Word around the interwebs tonight is that Apple is getting all delete crazy on users creating threads in the support forums pertaining to a Consumer Report’s article. The article in question highlights the same thing that any human with even the smallest shred of common sense already knows — the iPhone 4′s external antenna is major flaw that hampers the device. This isn’t news. Hell, even Apple censoring negative discussin on their products isn’t new either. But after all the evidence that has been brought to light since the iPhone 4′s release, it’s really not hard to see past Apple’s feeble attempts to somehow convince us there isn’t any signal attenuation problem. Not to mention, blatantly lying to consumers and ignoring reality is the exact reason Apple has showed me they don’t care about their customers in the slightest. It’s a slap in the face.
Nice try guys. How about putting all that effort into not designing shitty hardware and then sticking your nose in the air and acting as if the consumers are all idiots..hmm k!
Update:
I was sent a link to TechDirt that cites several sources claiming that the Consumer Reports threads in the Apple forums are reappearing — some of them — and that it was actually a hardware/software glitch in the first place. Given Apple’s track record on silencing critics, I’m still a bit unconvinced. Perhaps if Apple would respond…with anything…it wouldn’t be so cryptic. Make of it what you will…
And the battle wages on…
The latest in an almost juvenile yet entertaining (and I’ll admit it, liberating) move by Google has them yet again, sticking it to the red man. We’ve already seen Google close up shop with their .cn search page, choosing to redirect it to google.hk — Hong Kong’s freer flowing version. China responded by filtering results. So Google countered again with another “catch me if you can” by implementing the now common accompanying Twitter feed essentially killing two censored birds with one stone. First off, the Twitter feeds included in search results are not censored, including plenty of highly controversial topics involving China. Second, Twitter itself has been more or less banned in China for obvious reasons. Awesome, a twofer!
So now we all just sit back and wait for China to make their next move and then see how Google responds. It’s fun for me and I’m sure it’s fun for a lot of you out there. Nothing like a little playground justice, huh?
LA Times Tech Blog
Since Google made their bold stance to pull out of China regarding censorship issues earlier this year, the internet world has been in a firestorm. More recently however we’ve actually seen more controversy and actions taken regarding the “bigger picture”. For instance, this past week GoDaddy announced that they too would be following in Google’s footsteps and abandoning any further .cn domain registrations. Also on the list of potential movers is Dell, whom stated the idea was on the table.
One company whom so far has publicly (and rather proudly) voiced that they will continue operations in China is that of Microsoft. Former CEO Bill Gates was quoted saying:
At some point you have to ask yourself, do you want to do business in that country or not…”
Microsoft PR has gone on further stating that while they [Microsoft] appreciate other companies’ stances on the censorship/China issue, Microsoft remains committed to China and obeying local laws.
It is this stance that has Microsoft in the cross-hairs of the US Government body who took to their podiums today to denounce Microsoft’s decision as foolish and short sighted while simultaneously praising Google for theirs. And for the most part, I agree with the governments stance.
For me personally, Microsoft’s viewpoint leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Their defense — that they’re merely obeying local laws — is a bullshit excuse and response. What if China supported mass genocide and the killing of red headed step children thanks to specially crafted chips implanted in every person residing in the country at birth that allowed constant 24/7 tracking? If Microsoft made such a chip for much broader users, would they continue to directly deal with China and sell them said chips simply because they were merely “obeying the law”?
Now I realize the genocide example is an extreme example that fortunately is not taking place (in China anyway). But the main point still stands. Merely pushing off all of their reasoning as “because they said so” is the worst defense Microsoft could use. In the end it leaves them looking like pro-communist anti-consumer rights supporters which isn’t exactly the image they want to portray.
So again I ask: Is this all getting overblown or is Microsoft treading a fine line?
DailyTech
Free speech activists, March is your month. From Google, to possibly Dell, and now GoDaddy, American tech companies seem to be starting a small snowball effect in regards to pushing back against China’s draconian censorship policies. The latest in the anti-China crusade is GoDaddy whom announced today that they will be ceasing operations inside the land of the Great Firewall due to increasingly stringent domain registration policies, in particular new policies requiring pictures of each individual.
From an outsider’s point of view, a self picture being required to simply register a website is excessive. Not to mention, there’s all kinds of privacy issues at stake with your picture tied to all the other information already required to set up shop on the wild web.
Being one that vehemently opposes any type of censorship or government monitoring (I know, good luck avoiding tha these days), I applaud Google and GoDaddy (and if Dell so chooses to exit, them as well) for not doing what is common, popular, or simply thinking about the almighty dollar. Will they lose a large customer base? Yes. Will they sleep better at night? Possibly.
I’m all for supporting anyone or any company whom opposes the Chinese government and censorship overall. Think it’s worth the media attention it’s getting or is this all being overblown? Where do you stand?
AlleyInsider
Security, censorship, and internet rights are all the rage right now aren’t they? Fresh off of the previous post on the ACTA leak and older news of Google and China, fresh information is surfacing that has Dell doing as Google — pulling out of China. With Dell’s rumored exile, that would be two major companies to stand up and speak out against China’s overly aggressive tactics when it comes to the digital world. The plan for Dell is to supposedly hop on over to India where they already have another plant.
Critics are already coming out and labeling the move as more of a pricing tactic (land, taxes, etc.) than a “don’t be evil” Google-fied move. That tactic is plausible no doubt. But threatening to pull a $25 billion dollar business out of China simply to get cheaper land rates in either country seems mighty risky don’t you think? Especially considering how publicized it is going to be.
Guess we’ll have to sit back and watch. What do you think of Dell’s new found conscious?
DailyTech
