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Opera Closes China Loophole; Reinstates Censorship
ObsessiveMathsFreak writes "Coming hot on the heels of Microsoft's censoring of Chinese search results, browser-maker Opera has become the latest company to joyfully contribute to prosperous growth of the Great Firewall of China. For speed and convenience, the mobile phone-based 'Opera Mini' browser receives formatted web pages via Opera's own line of proxy servers. These unfiltered proxies gave Opera's Chinese users rare unfettered access to the wider web. However, this loophole has now been closed, with Chinese users now being directed to 'upgrade' to 'Opera Mini China,' which closes this loophole, returning them to the bosom of party censorship, and Opera to the favor of the Chinese Government. Truly; 'To Get Rich Is Glorious.'"
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In practice, Opera likely had little choice but to comply with local laws, and make a new version for Chinese users that cannot access all the "filtered" sites, same as any other Web browser.
They had no choice. So, the Chinese government would prevent them from doing business in China which is giving it away for free? I've never seen Opera specific advertising when I use Opera. So, I don't get it. Exactly what would Opera lose if they weren't in China?
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
"returning them to the buxom of party censorship"
buxom ??? What word do you think they were aiming for?
I can imagine that there's citizens of China that have unfettered access to the internet; there are plenty of companies out there that host software VPN's that allow a user to appear to be from a different country. The information is out there, you just have to know how to get it, although there is some risk. Hell, a business could probably make a good amount of money hosting terminal or Citrix servers just for FireFox usage for China users.
I'm sure there's a fairly large risk involved, and the punishments are probably severe. But where there's a will, there's a way, especially in technology.
Can other people use their proxy to see what they can't see? I'd really like to see, first hand, what it's like to browse through their proxy. I just wonder what sites I visit normally that aren't available.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
I really doubt this is something Opera did on its own. But if you want to do business in China, you have to go by their goverment's rules there like everyone else.
welcomes our new Chinese overlords
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Option 1: Refuse then, get blocked meaning you make no money and china gets no uncensored news
Option A:Comply keep making money and china gets no uncensored news.
IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
It is unfortunate that companies in this situation are caving to the requests of a government that has different ideals about the freedom of information than we do, but honestly, do you expect anything different? These companies aren't in the business of battling China on their political ideology. They are out to sell a web browser and maximize the NPV of the company. This is what a business and a free market is all about. To do anything different would be a strategic move that while it could be argued might benefit Chinese citizens, it is much less likely to benefit Opera. Furthermore, if they did fight China on this one, I think it would be naive to think that they did it for any other reason that as a calculated risk to gain marketshare and ultimately profit. So don't act surprised when stuff like this happens. The sooner people realize what businesses are and aren't, the sooner they will understand the forces shaping the world in which we live.
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That's awfully principled of you. "I would stop eating at a restaurant where the owner is an asshole, but then I'd have to walk half a mile more". It's like an attempt to paint yourself as a moral person, while being lazy and not doing anything anyway.
If you think it's really the wrong thing to do, and wrong enough to justify a switch to something else, then switch. If you think it's a perfectly fine thing for Opera to do, then just say that. But to take your option is simply hypocrisy. Sticking to principles isn't free, there is always some sort of sacrifice involved.
The way you're doing it, indeed it won't.
There are way bigger, monstrous sized companies who does serve to China's interests. Who did the "great firewall" to begin with? Which hardware does it run on? Can you imagine the data bandwidth, processing power required to do such "out of Internet nature" thing?
What about gigantic game companies who abides their "1 hour only" rules? What about once hippie run company shipping their "edition" for China?
Opera is like a grocery store run by family compared to those companies which are gigantic. They got bigger but they are still small. Their main income is from mobile&electronics and I don't think any mobile company on this planet dares to confront China. Their shareholders would really punish them so bad that Opera ASA as we all know would cease to exist.
I love the Chinese people - very fine people, respect for education, pretty girls, good solid folks. But their government is crap, and has been crap for 100 years, and the current collection of power mad bullies running the joint are a bunch of asshats who deserve all the punishment and torture they meet out upon their rivals and those who seek to exercise their basic human rights as outlined in the UN Charter.
To the people of China: Welcome to the 21st century. We're glad you made it.
To the Chinese Government: FUCK YOU. YOU SCUM SUCKING FREAKS.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Basically, it is not possible. There is private/public key encryption built in, that is why browser (shell in fact) asks you to press random keys or "move mouse" (in touchscreen) when first installed.
If you want to set up a conspiracy theory, don't look anywhere other than some popular search engines who bowed to China.
Look, the Nazis need a database just like anyone else, don't they? It's not like our database is going to invade Poland. It's just a database, just a product. Everyone else is selling to them. What, you want us to lose out?
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
My understanding is that they've got a special censoring proxy. A more reasonable option would seem to me to be a multiple choice question in the settings:
- "Use Opera's proxy for users outside China"
- "Use Opera's proxy for users inside China"
- "Use a different proxy"
- "Don't use Opera's proxy at all"
China can block the external proxy, and the browser can then auto-sense which Opera proxy to use, or let you bypass it altogether and go straight to the great firewall. That way everyone's happy.
Personally I'd prefer it if I didn't have to go through Opera's proxy; it may make things faster, but I always see it as another point in the chain where things can go wrong (security, privacy etc), and seems redundant when my phone's on a LAN. Do any recent versions let you turn it off?
... or not. I mean, restricting some content on the web isn't nearly as bad as invading other countries, killing its civilians by the hundreds of thousands and setting up puppet governments, and yet nobody here is calling for boycotts against American companies that support all of this (which is all of them, or at least those that pay taxes).
the mind is like a muscle: work it out, challenge it with ideas hostile to your own, and you only wind up with a stronger mind and stronger ideas
i understand that the technocrats think they are protecting the chinese citizen from foreign interference and degenerate thoughts, but for whatever perceived good is being done by a policy of censorship, the much larger real negative effect is to turn chinese citizens into cotton heads full of nothing but empty thoughts, placid lies. the truth is always ugly and disharmonious. that's what makes placid lies so much more attractive
for a mind where the serene lie is more valuable than the rude truth, inward thinking reigns. this is the same inward thinking, away from the wider world, building a wall against the outside world, literal and figurative, that led to the rot of the old chinese dynasties, and left china weak and ripe for exploit by foreign powers. the shame of this history drives so much of modern chinese infuriated pride: never again will china be defiled by foreign powers. the literal and figurative rapes of japanese imperialism, the british opium wars to force heroin on its citizens: this led to china's rebellions and eventual modernization
however, in the policies of the technocrats of beijing today, we see the same seeds of the same thinking of the old brittle bureaucratic mandarins that led to china's previous downfall. sheep are very harmonious, docile, placid creatures. they're also dumb. dear china: why do you choose placid lies over ugly truths? the harmonious still pool is beautiful, but weak. the raging river is ugly and dirty, but strong
the chinese government are turning their citizens into housepets. this is not a strong nation, this is a weak one, populated by simpletons who could have been strong minds, but the chinese govermnet made sure they were empty weak minds, by censoring anything that would challenge the dominant monoculture. yes, legions of robots can turn out lots of cheap goods, but you would think that you would like a china full of strong and wise chinese, not slaves. and yet the chinese government clearly values their citizens only as slaves, unable to think on their own, with censorship policies that mean chinese minds are never exercised
the chinese government does not respect its own citizens. the chinese government's censorship policies is recreating the conditions that led to china's historical rot, and the chinese government's policies will mean china will be weak again, and dominated and exploited again
that is why, in the name of respecting the chinese people, i do not respect the legitimacy of the chinese government. the chinese government does not respect its own people. the chinese government has an agenda which serves only its own flawed priorities, and do not serve its people
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I don't know why this is or if it's true or if Opera plans to fix it but I would find their implementation of a solution pretty archaic if that's one of the caveats. Hopefully they are working on fixing that.
Probably true. Opera Mini works by connecting to proxy servers that filter Web content so that it displays properly on a cell phone's tiny screen. All Opera Software would have to do is run a separate set of proxies for "Opera Mini China" and then actively refuse connections on their main proxies originating from Chinese IP address blocks. (Or, more likely, the Great Firewall will block them.)
My blog
We aren't talking the "main" Opera browser here. Opera Mini is for mobile phones that aren't powerful enough to support their full mobile client. Opera Mini proxy servers compress and optimize web pages so that it's easier and faster for your mobile phone to show them.
This doesn't affect Opera on computers or the full-scale Opera Mobile client.
Nothing in this case, since I'm not involved in it in the first place. I'd uninstall it if I had it installed.
But I do refuse to do business with companies that I consider unethical, and for instance I bought a music player at another country so that I could have one that fulfills my need while not being from Apple. I also made a special effort to buy a TV not made by Sony back when the rootkit mess happened. Both cases involved some inconvenience and extra expense.
I also stick to 100% open source software on my computer for much the same reason. Sometimes it's inconvenient, but I figure it's a good long term decision.
Everyone seems to forget that Corporations are Amoral and base all decisions on Legalities. Simply put, Morals have no place in a corporation as the decision goes like this. Is it Legal? Does it Offer a Competitive Advantage? If yes to both, Do it. It's that damn simple.
Mod me up/Mod me down: I wont frown as I've no crown
I'm torn on this. We want freedom. Does that mean we let the companies have freedom to do business with China and follow their rules? Or, should we demand that companies from the "free world" not contribute to the human rights problems of China, and others?
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
When dealing with large, murderous, totalitarian governments (no, I don't mean the US, which only aspires to the last), mentioning the Nazis isn't always inappropriate.
What's why you're posting on an x86 system. You're just so outraged at IBM.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
All that "ting-ting-ting" and fan-waving. No girls, either.
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
Opera Mini works by connecting to proxy servers that filter Web content so that it displays properly on a cell phone's tiny screen. All Opera Software would have to do is run a separate set of proxies for "Opera Mini China" and then actively refuse connections on their main proxies originating from Chinese IP address blocks. (Or, more likely, the Great Firewall will block them.)
The China version of Opera Mini was already using a transcoding server located in China. But people could install the international version if they wanted. What has changed now, is that usage from inside China of the international transcoding server is not supported anymore. It would indeed be trivially easy for the GFW to block this server in Oslo. But that didn't happen, instead the Chinese users now get a page asking them to use the the China Opera Mini version.
If you don't like having choices made for you, you should start making your own. - Neal Stephenson
Ask yourself this: Is China better off without Opera? My conclusion is no. Even a censored Opera is better than no Opera. Why? Simple. The more services the Government has to oversee and censor, the more difficult it will be for them to plug all cracks in the firewall. Even after this, there are workarounds in Opera Mini to avoid the firewall. So ask yourself again: Do you really think China would be better off without Opera?
There doesn't seem to be any connection here. There are plenty of individuals who operate under the same algorithm. In fact, it's often those individuals who form corporations in the first place!
Ethics, morality and values are matters of opinion, not fact.
Yes, Ethics are epiphenomena. That doesn't mean you won't suffer when you ignore them. Just because there are competing schools of ethical thought does not mean that you cannot draw reliable, ethical conclusions from given facts that everyone can reasonably agree upon, while those who fail to agree proceed at their own peril.
Notice how Opera doesn't clarify the ethics behind their decision? What ethical substrate are they clinging too? The best we can tell is they are merely chasing the almighty dollar and short-term profit, which implies they will sell you out to the highest bidder at the earliest opportunity as well. Do you really want to pipe all of your SSL banking connections via the Opera Mini proxy servers now? Who says they won't abuse this trust-relationship to siphon your bank account? Have they found sneaky ways to bundle key loggers into their personal computer products? If profit is all they seek, there are few ways to protect oneself against such potential chicanery. I don't know about you, but that's why I rely a lot on trust when I run a person's software on my computer or utilize their network. I could audit them 9 ways 'til Sunday, but there is always a gap you can never completely close without a measure of Trust. Opera has just broken mine.
Lacking further mitigating information, it appears wise to avoid business with Opera when alternatives exist, regardless of what perspective you look at this through. Ethics are not facts, nobody is forcing you to do anything, but many ethical constructs are widely understood. So those who ignore business decisions like this might as well watch the cook at their restaraunt leave the restroom without washing their visibly filthy hands, and then sit down to enjoy their meal anyway.
People willing to trade their freedom of expression for temporary entertainment deserve neither and will lose both.