China Tightens Grip on Web

[roddy]

Had to edit the above article again - could people please avoid using the specific names of proxy software, it's one thing the filters consitently object to. And also see here on copying and pasting.

[self-taught-mba]

Seriously. I saw the update in my email and thought "Gee how is this going to get by the filters"

One word for everybody (including SS who suggests saving to a draft and making others sign in) "SCREENSHOT".

[Silver Surfer]

This is the article where I got the trick from: Big Brother est-il tapi au fond de votre ordinateur? “Is Big Brother hiding in your computer?” (last paragraph). It is actually the transcript of an online debate with this French investigative journalist, Jacques Henno, about is latest book “Tous fichés” (“All Filed”) and online privacy.

You’re right roddy, it will remain on a http address. But what the author said in that interview is that all e-mails can be intercepted by a third party that really wants to. He also says that most of e-mails transit by the US and that we can be rather sure that the National Security Agency monitors them all. So that, if saved in the draft folder and never sent, the message is never actually “circulating” and that it has “less risks to be intercepted” (“moins de risques d’être intercepté”).

Like in this journalist’s case for instance it is Yahoo that provided the user’s personal e-mails to the government which expressly asked for. So I don’t know if they required the draft pages also or the whole file.

As for the “screenshots” it seems to be an excellent idea but again, I guess the inscriptions of the attachment you send, either by e-mail or MSN, are filed as well, no?

[imron]

Well, here in Hebei today, it seems everything with the word "mail" in the address is blocked - https or not. gmail, hotmail, mail.yahoo.com, mailinator all return page not found when trying to access them without doing anything special.

[self-taught-mba]

I guess the inscriptions of the attachment you send, either by e-mail or MSN, are filed as well, no?

inscriptions??? please explain

[gato]

Try "tor," an internet proxy program that allows you bypass the firewall when you surf the web. I've been using for the last three, four months with no problem.

Here're the instruction for installing and configuring the program on your PC

http://tor.eff.org/documentation.html

Just install this program

http://www.freehaven.net/~edmanm/torcp/download/tor-0.1.0.17-torcp-0.0.4-bundle.exe

Then follow the instructions to configure your browser to use the proxy.

I use the Firefox browser with "Switchproxy" extension installed. With this setup, using the proxy is almost as easy as clicking a single button.

--

Or you can use "torpark," which is a version of firefox with "tor" builtin. It's not as flexible as switchproxy+firefox+tor, but it does the job and you can put it on a USB-flash and carry it around with you from machine to machine.

Download this

http://www.jtaturbo.com/torpark/torpark_1.5.0.2b_english.exe

or

http://www.jtaturbo.com/torpark/torpark_1.5.0.2b_chinese.exe

More details:

http://torpark.nfshost.com/

[self-taught-mba]

very good thank you gato

but tthis is easier

quote attached. for the screenshots was also meaning we should use them here. previously the names of other workarounds triggered the problem in the future the program just mentioned might as well so I won't type the name

[roddy]

Take it to email folks.

[gato]

Both http://amazon.com and http://imdb.com (Internet Movie Database) have been inaccessible in the last few days. I wonder if it's part of the new crackdown. Since both sites have user-contributed reviews, they might have contents that the authorities don't want people to read.

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=49928

CHINA: Another Web service told to shut down

South China Morning Post

Thursday, July 27, 2006

By Vivian Wu

http://washingtontimes.com/business/20060728-103146-2519r.htm

China Cracks Down on Foreign Internet Investors

July 31, 2006 • by The Associated Press

China is trying to tighten control over foreign investors in Internet ventures in a crackdown that a state newspaper said Friday could see some companies stripped of operating licenses.

It wasn't immediately clear how the crackdown might affect industry giants such as Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc. and Google Inc., which have launched Web portals, search engines and e-commerce sites with local partners in China, the world's second-biggest online market.

Regulators say "unauthorized foreign investors" are improperly offering services with shared or borrowed licenses, domain names or trademarks from Chinese partners, the China Daily said.

But regulators say some have bought into Chinese companies without required approval, while others fail to follow operating rules, the China Daily reported.

It said companies that fail to comply with the latest order could lose their operating licenses.

"Some foreign companies, which already offer telecoms value-added services might have to reapply for a license," said Chen Jinqiao, a researcher at a think tank affiliated with the telecoms ministry, quoted by the China Daily.

It wasn't clear how the order might affect Chinese companies such as Baidu.com or Sohu.com that have set up foreign entities in order to raise money on stock exchanges abroad.

[self-taught-mba]

Oh come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amazon??!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wikipedia was bad enough, now I can't. . . oh nevermind I'm preaching to the choir here. I hate to see the Chinese gov't hurt themselves--it makes it hard to convince people that China is changing and not as bad as people think when they keep pulling this crap.

[roddy]

I'm getting amazon and imdb fine.

[gato]

Maybe it's just in Shanghai? I've also been have periodic trouble with Gmail in Shanghai.

[self-taught-mba]

Can't get amazon here in BJ. I am starting to think their blocking methods are more sophisticated (or luan4) than we have thought.

[Southernjohn]

is anyone in Guangdong? I had no trouble using gmail before I left for a visit to the States. I am returning this month. I wonder if I will still have gmail.... :-(

[gato]

Amazon.com and imdb.com are accessible once again. I wonder what's going on. Maybe they're tweaking the filtering mechanism in the connection between China and the rest of the world.

[liuzhou]

Come on! Every time a site is down for one second, you blame the nannies.Yes, they are prime assholes, but...

Yes, Gmail is fine in Shanghai (confirmed August 1st 2006 23:30) as are Amazon and IMDb.