Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Behind China's Great Firewall

Posted by timothy on from the draws-attention-to-what's-blocked dept.

DigitalDame2 writes "In light of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, more scrutiny is being placed on China's Web-filtering practices. In May, China's technology minister, Wan Gang, told Reuters China he would 'guarantee as much [access] as possible,' defending Web limitations as necessary to protect the country's citizens. Truly understanding this cat-and-mouse game means taking a close look at what exactly the government filters out, how the Great Firewall works, and how others have found ways around it."

7 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Firewall tech by mactard · · Score: 5, Funny

    I honestly want to see pictures of that thing. I mean, every single packet that goes in and out of China goes through a giant box. That thing has to be huge to filter any sort of serious bandwidth.

  2. Wow... by Jor-Al · · Score: 5, Insightful

    defending Web limitations as necessary to protect the country's citizens. Yes, without filtered internet, who knows what untold damage might sweep through the populace!
  3. errrmm.... by bsDaemon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    FTA:

    Even the good old U.S. of A. has restricted access in some cases. In May 2007, just a few weeks after placing restrictions on soldiers' blogs, the Department of Defense blocked access for soldiers to 13 "social networking and recreational" Web sites such as MySpace and YouTube, claiming that they took up too much bandwidth and presented operational risks. Ultimately, the ban severely limited the ability of soldiers overseas to communicate with loved ones at home, especially since the sites couldn't be accessed throughout much of Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not sure once can draw a moral equivelancy between the Army blocking what soldiers do over Army internet connections from war-zones and the Chinese blocking internet access for regular citizens.

    Until the USA starts filtering my access to the BBC, I don't really know why they even brought that up -- its just like workplace filtering at any other job.
  4. Silver lining... by Hankapobe · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...these measures are put in place to protect children and other Internet users from illegal and offensive content.

    This is an illustration of the slippery slope and we all should show this to anyone who wants to censor or regulate the internet for obscene material or to "protect the children".

    As a matter of fact, here's a perfect illustration how the "think of the children" rhetoric can be and is used for oppression of a people.

    1. Re:Silver lining... by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why do you hate children so much? Are you some kind of cold, heartless terrorist?

      --
      My blog
    2. Re:Silver lining... by Rycross · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've noticed that theres a small contingent of very nationalistic Chinese Slashdot users who get butthurt whenever anyone says anything remotely negative about the Chinese government. Usually its with a "OMG Why do you hate us so much!?" sort of mentality that I previously thought was exclusive to blindly patriotic Americans (yes I'm American). Thats probably who's doing the down-modding.

      I'm a bit amazed at how hesitant a lot of Chinese guys I know are to say anything remotely negative about the Chinese government and get really upset if you insinuate that its not all fluffy bunnies and flowers with the government. But then again I'm used to pretty much everyone complaining about my government.

    3. Re:Silver lining... by value_added · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've noticed that theres a small contingent of very nationalistic Chinese Slashdot users who get butthurt whenever anyone says anything remotely negative about the Chinese government.

      Not just Slashot users, but Chinese in general. I watched a news program or documentary recently that covered the subject, and it turns out the Chinese, the young and college educated particularly, exhibit the same reaction.

      It turns out that, and I'm generalising here, the Chinese, if they don't "like it that way". have few objections to strong government control. For a westerner that might be hard to fathom, but I think it's unfair to dismiss their preferences as absurd or characterise them as the result of some sort of brainwashing.

      What shouldn't be hard to fathom is that for someone who's Chinese, China is their country. Last I checked, national pride is a universal phenomenon, and treading on other's sense of identity or pride, however enlightened or well-intentioned, is always bad form and inevitably leads to conflict.