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Western Software Used to Support Censorship

Posted by Zonk on from the two-sides-of-a-coin dept.

just_another_sean writes "The NYT has an interesting summary of a study done by the OpenNet Initiative about Western software companies developing and profiting from censorship and Internet filtering tools used by repressive regimes. This particular study focuses on censorship in Myanmar, a country that is currently under American sanctions. Are these software companies simply selling a product and should not be concerned with how it is used or are they contributing to the problems of these repressive regimes?"

2 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. The Fifth Hope had some good lectures on this ... by un1xl0ser · · Score: 3, Informative
    From: http://www.the-fifth-hope.org/hoop/5hope_speakers. khtml

    How the Great Firewall Works
    Bill Xia
    http://www.the-fifth-hope.org.nyud.net:8090/mp3/gr eat-firewall.mp3 http://www.the-fifth-hope.org.nyud.net:8090/mp3/gr eat-firewall.m3u

    Cult of the Dead Cow Hactivism Panel
    Eric Grimm, Sharon Hom, Dr. James Mulvenon, Oxblood Ruffin, Nart Villeneuve
    http://www.the-fifth-hope.org.nyud.net:8090/mp3/cd c-hacktivism-1.mp3 http://www.the-fifth-hope.org.nyud.net:8090/mp3/cd c-hacktivism-1.m3u http://www.the-fifth-hope.org.nyud.net:8090/mp3/cd c-hacktivism-2.mp3 http://www.the-fifth-hope.org.nyud.net:8090/mp3/cd c-hacktivism-2.m3u

    --
    v4sw6PU$hw6ln6pr4F$ck 4/6$ma3+6u7LNS$w2m4l7U$i2e4+7en6a2X h
  2. Public `censorship' is not censorship by brokeninside · · Score: 3, Informative

    You ask how public censorship can be more acceptable then government censorship. But there can be no public censorship because the public at large does not back its censorship through coercive force short of a mob going door to door threatening individuals with bodily harm if they say certain things or buy certain products. Rather, a public effort to shame a company into modifying its behavior respects the principle of individual autonomy because it invites people to participate rather than forcing people to participate.

    Consider a woman getting up on a soapbox to sing protest songs in a public square. If I turn my back on her and walk away solely because of the content of her songs, that isn't censorship. But if the police come along and arrest her solely because of the content of her songs, she has been censored. Even if I go around urging others to ignore this singer, I'm still not committing censorship. She is still free to express her protest just as I am still free to ignore it and free to attempt to stop her message being promulgated by depriving her of an audience by convincing others to choose to ignore her.