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China Will Monitor, Censor SMS Messages
maggeth writes "Early reports on the AP (via Yahoo) indicate that China will begin monitoring and censoring SMS communications in real time. China's 'great firewall' is infamous, but the move to censoring SMS has been slow due to technological roadblocks. Algorithms are used to identify key words and combinations of words that might be associated with 'political rumors and "reactionary remarks,"' and the system automatically notifies local police. Something to think about on your Fourth of July weekend!" Reader ackthpt adds links to coverage at the BBC and The Register, asking "What next, a massive government database system to track every message and contacts between people?"
... it's the Chinese. Their government just serves as a reminder of how far we in America have yet to fall. Even though our rights have been eroded significantly, we'll always have China to remind us that the good old USA still remains the land of the free.
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
This story provides an intriguing corollary to what is happening in the US. It's a sober reminder of what the end result can be when Big Brother gets too much power over technological lines of communication and the ordinary lives of citizens.
I'm sad to say that I have noticed a disturbing gravitation towards this kind of draconian system by our government who has somehow convinced the majority of the populace that they should be granted whatever monitoring rights they want because we need them to protect us from terrorists. Personally, I could give jack sh*t about terrorists on a minute by minute basis throughout most of my day. I feel much safer keeping certain parts of my life private and away from the Washington watchdogs.
The reality of the situation is that if we willingly give up all rights to privacy something like this type of system is not going to be far away, though few see it.
I cannot leave the patriot act.
No differents as far as I'm concerned
Wireless Cameras
Gamblers Forum
- the CIA used to be prevented from spying on US citizens, not the NSA.
- Patriot act I and II (which was quietly approved on the day that we announced the "capture" of Sadaam) stripped all that pretense away. Any group is allowed to spy on us, with any group being (NSA, CIA, Fatherland Defense, and DOJ).
Are we any different than China? Yes we are. We have the ability to auto spy on most aspects of our life. That allows the feds to focus on the otheratm a large proportion of the population of China are really benefiting from its governments rule.
'A Large proportion of the population' also benefited from segregation.... Free societies are judged by how well they protect the rights of the individual.... not how many they sacrifice 'for the greater good'
I don't think the US goverment really needs appreciation.
While one is worse than the other, that still doesn't mean that both aren't undesirable, infringing or wrong.
I think the US government should be rightfully criticized for a level of surveilence that is likely illegal, or was highly illegal before the PATRIOT was enacted.
The existence of MATRIX and ECHELON aren't exactly winning my confidence in the US government. The kind of things that they fail to cover up completely makes me wonder what they did manage to cover up, just didn't get any people with enough guts to be whistle blowers?
For a government that is supposed to be about checks and balances, neither seem to be used much.
Dont take your party hats out and celebrate just yet. The US has an even bigger system that spies on just any communication. Nothing stops Bush or anyone in charge from using it in political games since its all under a [Top Secret] stamp. The new antiterror laws that lets the govt detain someone indefinitly without telling anyone is also a great tool to stay in power.
The US is just as bad as China but its more polished on the outside. The difference is that china is open about what they do.
HTTP/1.1 400
"Check out the policy that AT&T has regarding SMS, turns out they log 3 months worth ... ala, the Amercians monitor it too."
A.) They're not preventing messages from being sent.
B.) Due process.
C.) Nobody's been investigated for discussing anti-Bush views via SMS.
"Derp de derp."
Sorry, don't think so. Even though its got more than a million people, it is far more homogenous than the USSR or Yugoslavia (proportionate to their populations). Who would "break off" from China? Tibet, sure but most Chinese wouldn't give a damn. Some backwards western hinterlands? Maybe, but see above about "giving a damn." Manchuria? No. Hong Kong, maybe but in a free China that would be unnecessary. The fact is that China, as a nation very much like the one we know today has existed for almost two thousand years and for just about that entire time has had a very strong central government. There have been civil wars, but the goals (and eventual outcome) of all parties has always been a unified China. China is NOT going to break up like the USSR and Yugoslavia. Sorry.
"(4) The United States is the BEST and the LAST defense agaisnt tyranny. "
:-) Oh, and didn't you have some problems with civil rights in the southern states in the 60's ?
Senator Joseph McCarthy
However generally I agree, except I'd include the western european democracies in there too. None are perfect, but all are not perfect in different ways so the sum of the whole is better than any single one.
For instance the UK hasn't been a full democracy for as long as the USA but it's enshrined demoncratic institutions since 1688 which have proven remarkably robust.
Or Germany, which of course had the trauma of Nazism, but as a result of which is probably more concious of civil rights and freedoms than the USA.
Or France, whos foreign policies I'm sure you don't agree with but who's independent attitude does act as a friendly counterweight to the USA and others and so forces them to justify themselves.
Or the Dutch, who's liberal, permissive, personal-freedom centered attitudes are usually 10 to 20 years ahead of the rest of us.
Or the Scandanavians, where personal freedoms are considered to include social support and equality to a degree you might profoundly disagree with - but do pose you questons.
From that BBC news article
;)
Avon and Somerset Police said a Special Branch officer visited Mr Devine after the person who received the message contacted police.
And
Mr Devine, an engineer at Orange, said he was worried when the officer confronted him a month after he had sent the text.
I think you've embellished it a bit
Would you know this for sure? In the UK the authorities now have powers to gag people interviewed during an investigation, so you would never know. Does the US have similar imoral laws?
Do you think you any ordinary American is going to change the Patriot act by writing letters or running for any office short of Senator or President which requires million of dollars to ... buy ... errr ... win.
A concerted letter writing campaign is more likely to get you additional scrutiny from the PATRIOT act.
If you try to run for office based on this platform you are going to be branded unPATRIOTic. Why do you think they picked that name, to discourage anyone from criticizing it. You will be painted as either soft on terrorists if not one yourself and I assure you those kinds of charges play very well with at least half of America's less than smart voters.
If you look at Kerry he was stumping against the Patriot Act only in the Democratic primaries which is where most of the American against the Patriot act are, excepting a few true conservatives, like me, that hate it too along with all big government. In the general election I doubt Kerry will mention it, and if he is elected he probably wont support doing anything about it, except fine tuning it which will probably end making it worse, not better. He is a former prosecutor and probably has a fond spot in his heart for tools that make prosecuting people easier.
I'll probably get slammed for it but multinational execs probably love China's repression of its people and America's repression of its own. Most corporations deep down really want quiet subservient people who go to work every day, keep secrets, keep their mouth shut, don't complain and don't organize to get better wages and benefits. Multinational execs in China might get upset with China's rules if they interfere with their SMS traffic but I wager China is being selective and not putting this filtering on foreign executives phones.
@de_machina
True, but "Fatherland" was already taken...