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China Shuts Down 8,600 Cybercafes
ThatGuyAZ writes "China has shut down over 8,600 internet cafes in the last two months as a part of a new crackdown on "underage" internet use. The crackdown has also limited access to blogs, and forums, and requires video surveilance of cybercafe patrons. Only in China would a reduction of internet access to the public be called an "education campaign"."
Only in China would a reduction of internet access to the public be called an "education campaign
Yeah, and in america they call it 'securing your freedom'
I realize that China is a repressive government and all. I can understand not letting kids gamble and wanting to keep them away from porn. I even see why they want to restrict acess to non-government controlled media. But what good does keeping those younger then 16 off of the internet entirely accomplish?
The policy of the United States is worse than bad---it is insane. -- Ludwig von Mises, Economic Policy(1959)
"Get 'em while they're young."
Age restrictions on Internet usage really means limiting the access of dangerous (or unpopular/undesirable) ideas to those who have not yet been conditioned. Like it or not, public schools are an excellent way to instill cultural ideas into a nation's populace. In fact, schools are perhaps the only way to reliably build a nation of any size and maintain a sense of cohesion.
Schools definitely have their own inherent benefits, but the accessibility of such young citizens is just too good a chance at perpetuating the country's ideals to let pass. I'm not saying that there's a massive and finely calculate effort to 'brainwash' children, but it is undeniably a useful tool of empire-building. This article is an excellent example of that. While China's actions are rather more extreme than anything you'd see in the West, don't think it isn't done here either. It is a very commonly used tool in every 'civilized' nation.
How many times have you pledged your allegiance?
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Maybe the two Chinas should unify: under a democratic government like in Taiwan. Consider the rest of China to be a "Wayward Province".
...and these actions should surprise us, why?
I don't let my foolish kids online.
China tries to limit the number of foolish people online.
Sounds good to me.
The way I see it, if you limit Internet use then people will treat it like a preminum, which is what traditional computer usage was, a preminum to be used wisely.
We should enjoy the "relative" freedom we have now, because the more people who are educated by the FBI and other 3-letter agencies in the United States and around the world, the more people should try to understand the situations (pirate activity,script kiddiots,infrastructure hacks,etc...) the Chinese are trying to prevent in the first place. Just like every other country out there, the Chinese have their share of "get rich quick" fools who want to reach out and touch other people's wallets or email accounts.
If our lords and masters didn't find our Internet activites amusing and enlightening the experiment would stop. The Internet can be put back in the box.
Education in this context is appropriate.
Proactive schooling is better than criminalizing people after the fact.
(Ignorance of the law cannot be used as a defense against the law, right?)
Every new form of media has it's own Requirimento
In Communist China Internet Surfs You!
. . . your "buddies" at Cisco and Yahoo for providing the customized routers and consulting services that are helping this evil regime tighten the noose on it's subjects.
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
Why exactly are we wasting efforts trying to find one guy in a sand dune somewhere in the middle east, when the same resources could be used to spank this grossly uncivilized government into playing fair with their own citizens ?
Around here, if a certain group of individuals isolate themselves in such fashion and severely restrict their knowledge and mindset, it's called a religious sect, definitely a bad thing. Over there it's called government, it's called a country. It's called legalized disregard for basic human rights. It's called a bunch of pricks thinking they're better than the rest.
If a country has to "protect" its citizens from the bad bad rest of the world, isn't it because they know damn well that what's on the outside is much nicer than the inside ? That's how a state prison is intended to work (in theory), we lock you up in a boring little box so you learn to better appreciate and respect the outside world.
All this terrotorial stupidity is making a racist out of me.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
China is in the midst of industrialization, a process which it must complete effectively before A) its population demographics "go grey," and B) it ends up like post-Soviet Russia. Slashing the internet access of a generation of children will only hamper the formation of a workforce well-educated enough to function in the high-tech industry of the coming decades.
China doesn't have to go the way of Russia, but if it continues down this road, it probably will.
Stop learning! Only you can prevent esoterrorism.
...got a make a living right?
Has anyone WarDriven China? That would be cool, I wonder how many open APs there are ... makes the whole concept of an Internet Cafe sort of moot.
We aren't welcoming them into the fold.
Only in China would a reduction of internet access to the public be called an "education campaign"
Only in America would invading foreign countries to strenthen US control of middle eastern oil supplies be called 'The War On Terror'.
Sorry. I think this is appalling but the smugness of that statement really shits me.
Now wash your hands.
Get your Google cache here and no more limited access :)