This morning, I read an article from Xinhua news agency that said China now has 20.8 million bloggers. As a result, their government wants all users to register with their real names before blogging. "The real names of bloggers will be kept private as long as they do no harm to the public interest." according to China Internet Survey Report 2007. Of course, given the nature and history of China's government, "no harm to the public interest" means no criticism of rules, regulations or policies. Agree?
The other item that interested me in that article was the how much a Chinese web user spends online on average. For about $22 every month, they pay for the costs of web access, online shopping and games. I spend $45 just for web access! But I don't think I'll be moving to China for cheap Internet.
Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts
Friday, January 12, 2007
Friday, December 08, 2006
Iran Fears YouTube.com
China is not the only government fearful of what its citizens might do if they have a little knowledge. Iran recently sought to protect its power by preventing its citizen from accessing YouTube.com "on the basis of the Islamic Republic of Iran laws". I know this is the 21st century but there are still power structures that need people to blindly follow ...
Monday, December 04, 2006
a way around the Great Censorship Wall of China
You have probably heard about how the Chinese government has been forcing Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others to censor their web sites. After all, has else can a government protect itself? And with billion potential customers, these companies are choosing to comply albeit reluctantly. All except Wikipedia that is. Since Wikipedia isn't concerned with making money with their site, the Chinese government has no way of forcing them to comply. And I don't think blocking the site is an option...
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