Slashdot Mirror
Protesting China's Required Censorship Software
dinoyum writes "Censorship in China is nothing new, but the level of action taken to force Chinese citizens to comply has garnered global recognition. China marked the date July 1st, 2009 as the day manufacturers will be forced to install filtering software on all new PCs. While many have resorted to digitally lashing out against Green Dam, Chinese artist and designer of the famous Bird's Nest at the Beijing Olympics, Ai Weiwei has decided upon a different approach. '[He wants] a general internet strike — no work, no games, no email or anything else online — for 24 hours on the date the government plans to require censorship software on all new computers, he says, will be a quiet act of rebellion. Not coincidentally, July 1 is the 88th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. Though he posted the idea, Ai wants to leave the meaning to those who participate. "I gave almost no explanation about why I'm doing it," Ai said. "I just give the structure and people will fill in their own meaning. I don't want to be political first. I wanted to set up an act that everyone can easily accept, and then realize the power later. I want people to see their own power," he said.'"
Artist, government critic, blogger, Twitter pioneer. Now Ai Weiwei wants to shut down the internet for a day.
I wonder if his disappearance will be covered up as "performance art?"
It's certainly a valiant idea, I wish him the best of luck. It seems he'll need it:
... and news about the strike call has been scrubbed by censors from the most widely read sites.
I doubt it can but hopefully Twitter and word of mouth make this possible. I would probably have to take the day off and walk around town in order to avoid internet usage all day ... then again, I live under a less invasive government.
... but what is the majority feeling of the general Chinese populace? Honestly there have been other things where I know at least some of the populace supported the Chinese government's actions to "watch out for them." Ai needs to overcome those people, I have no idea if he's a lone voice or the voice of everyone's repressed thoughts.
I'm not clued into Chinese culture at all so all I know is that globally other news sources in other countries are criticizing this
My work here is dung.
It's been tried before.
Or how about you search it for us and not cite a search engine as a source in the future?
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
Perhaps he's from China and doesn't want to be "disappeared."
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
The Chinese government is not a government that takes well to public protests (Tiananmen Square massacre or the June 4th incident as the Chinese call it). I'm not saying these people should back down but I wonder if a better approach might yield better result. You have to take culture into consideration when dealing with politics. Culturally, the Chinese react very, very poorly to public confrontations, especially if one party will be humiliated by backing down. (Before anyone asks, I come from a Chinese family. This is experience from dealing with other Chinese, especially parents.) There's this concept of "face" and the Chinese will practically do anything to save it. Generally, to get compromises or change someone's declared public position you have to do it in a subtle way that doesn't threaten anyone's public image if he changes his position. Best of luck to him because he might actually succeed in changing the government's mind by showing them public anger, but the government will punish him simply for his public confrontation. This is actually quite heroic of him. He might be surprised by how many Chinese would care, despite his own blog post to the contrary, because of the very practical impact the Internet has on their day to day lives. The Chinese tend to be practical rather than idealistic.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
The same can be said for every national government. You don't rise to power without a lifetime of struggle and by the time you get there you'd hardly be considered connected to anything or anyone but the people who got you there. Just because the Chinese power class lets it all hang out while Western powers play the cloak and dagger game doesn't make them any different underneath all the bullshit. Remember that the media is part of this game too. Don't let yourself be distracted by troubles in one part of the world when there is plenty of trouble brewing elsewhere.
mmmm...forbidden donut
Now I'm not advocating cyber-terrorism in any way, but how long will it be until someone turns all of these computers against the Chinese government?
Also, for conspiracy theorists out there, the North Koreans are planning a ballistic missile "test" shortly after the July 1st date. They have also forbidden foreign ships in their waters because of a naval "test." With the possibility that China is converting its entire nation into a botnet, this is slightly alarming. Could they be gearing up for war against the US?
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.