Slashdot Mirror
SMS, SARS, And Censorship
angkor writes with a link to this article about "How SMS messaging in China forced the government to acknowledge the 'fatal flu in Guangdong.' And the steps the Chinese government is taking to make sure it does not happen again."
Well, I think it's perfectly understandable that the Chinese government block these SMS messages. It allows them to control their own country, instead of having to deal with rumor-spreading rabble rousers. Also, 120 million people hearing about this via SMS is small compared to the overall population of China, which is somewhere a little above one billion. That's a similar percentage to the 20-some million in the states who have heard about the penis length crisis.
Hello.
Slashdot users could use a nice dose of self-censorship!
Pesky citizens allowing the truth to get out!!!
:-)
They closed down the Internet Cafes!
The Government now need to remove all mobile phones.
Breaking news is that they may ban speach altogether
Slashdot Beta should die a painful death.
The Good folks at Villain Supply are selling a VAGUE, PANIC-PROVOKING COMMUNICABLE DISEASE for a mere US$149,999.99.
As the age of SARS has proven, nothing scares the gullible, scientifically illiterate population like a vague, panic-provoking communicable disease. Just tack a scary acronym onto any poorly-defined set of flu-like symptoms, and watch the fun begin.
Your Vague, Panic-Provoking Communicable Disease comes with several medical journal articles identifying the disease in the most non-specific terms possible, a batch of press releases, and 25% ownership of a face mask factory.
Mod me down if you must, but I couldn't resist.
I'm not Seth.
And the steps the Chinese government is taking to make sure it does not happen again.
Oh I see, they're going to block SMS.
no, I didnt rtfa yet, but in slashdot tradition I figure I get my comment out of the way.
Your neighbor's car kills over 1000 people per year? Man, your neighbor needs some serious driving lessons...
CC-licensed translations of Japanese fiction: http://tonygonz.blogspot.com/
Please don't give GWB ny more ideas!
On Slashdot, deaths, famine and the routine detentian and torture of political prisoners, breaching basic human rights, is insignificant next to the fact they can't "share" music on Kazaa.
Questioning the Right and Correct practices of our Kind and Generous Government? TERRORIST!
Try some of the below messages, sent to the contacts as listed in apnic.net. (I also send them in Chinese as translated by Altavista, but /dork won't let me post that here.) I figure one of two things can happen--the surveillance state apparatus wastes some time on unfounded messages, or a spam supporting admin in .cn gets a bullet in the head. A win-win situation if you ask me.
Your encrypted message has been received. The weapons you ordered for the "Free Tibet" and "Remember Tiananmen" forces in their fight against the Communist PRC are on their way through the agreed route. May your brave men prevail in the fight for freedom and the defeat of Communism.
Thank you so much for the beautiful picture of the Dalai Lama you sent me. I'm glad to hear that such formerly forbidden information can flow freely in the oppressive People's Republic of China without you being put up against a wall and shot! Congratulations!
In the wake of the recent Party Congress that has handed power to a new generation of corrupt politicians, I must congratulate you for your continued bravery in being a beacon of protest of the policies of the PRC. Your advocacy against the one-child policy, forced sale of blood by peasants, electronic pollution, and other evils of Chinese society is commendable. Particularly, risking your life to smuggle arms to Tibet makes your esteem in my eyes much the greater.
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
1'v h33rd dat g0v7's l15t3|\|1|\|g. Wh4ts 4ll di5 54r5 th1|\|g? 4nyw3y, l3t d3m c3n5or th15!
;)
Although I suspect this might be tad more difficult with Chinese letters.
--
I refuse to use
Its technology allows it, for example, to search the country's entire volume of email traffic for words such as "Falungong", or to monitor any individual's text messages.
Considering how susceptible Chinese computers have been in the past to e-mail worms, I bet I know what sort of messages the next big worm will send out....