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Gmail Reportedly Has Been Blocked In China
An anonymous reader is one of many to point out a report that Gmail has been blocked in China. A years-long war between Google and China that highlights the ideological chasm between the two behemoths has now entered a new phase. On Monday morning, reports confirmed online chatter that Gmail has been fully blocked in China. And transparency advocates say they know exactly what's to blame: China's Great Firewall. "I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google's presence in China and even weaken its market overseas," an anonymous representative of GreatFire.org told Reuters. "Imagine if Gmail users might not get through to Chinese clients. Many people outside China might be forced to switch away from Gmail."
which would require blocking server to server traffic
Since SMTP allows forwarding by other servers this would require deep packet inspection.
“Imagine if Gmail users might not get through to Chinese clients. Many people outside China might be forced to switch away from Gmail.”
This isn't how the internet works.
Its the way that many non net-neutrality lobyists want it to work. Except they have a capitalist vision of google having to pay to have people access gmail.
I invite you to move to China and try making a statement like this, and see what happens.
Well, I don't live in China, but I've done a lot of business in China, and work with someone who is just completing a PhD in economics while working in China and feeds me a stream of consciousness about the extent of overt and covert state meddling.They certainly don't hide their censorship, let alone have a problem with people complimenting them for it. What would you expect to happen, please?
They're simply years ahead of us in greed, graft, and crony capitalism.
Mmm, no. They're edging from the right gradually toward pragmatic social democracy, while the US (with the exception of Obamacare) are getting more and more wacko religious neocon by the year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know anything about Gmail being blocked, adding that the government was committed to providing a good business environment for foreign investors.
So, unpopular opinion here but working with what basically exists as the worlds largest firewall may prove to be more difficult than a handful of PF rules. Its entirely possible Google services have accidentally been incorporated into a chain or policy they should not have, as they very likely exist in a complex one already. Or perhaps some recent holiday change on their part has triggered an automatic block. Either way its difficult to defend the idea that China intentionally did this when google gladly censors their search results and complies with all local regulations. They vicariously employ and support hundreds if not thousands of chinese workers, many underage and in poor labor conditions, to manufacture cellphones and laptops for people. Google remains a sterling partner of the chinese leadership in their quiet, tacit business participation in what for all intents and purposes amounts to a capitalist dictatorship with a communist logo.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Your opinion of China is laughable.
What do you think they talk about there?
It is no longer the 1950's "McCarthyism" / "Maoism" where you could report your neighbor the communist/capitalist and they faced jail time.
Sure, back in the 1950's things were pretty terrible there and talking bad about the state could get you arrested ("un-american" charges often lead to similar jail time) but that is no longer the case.
When driving around China once i saw a large poster of Mao and asked the driver what his thoughts were around that. he had some pretty choice words to describe him.
Let me ask you two standard questions I ask people who post on "China" posts.
1) Do you own a passport?
2) Is your passport stamped with a Chinese entry visa?
Except they have a capitalist vision of google having to pay to have people access gmail.
wat. Of course Google pays to have people access gmail - servers, racks, drives, power, transit, staff, real estate all cost quite a bit. Where would they get those resources for free?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Try talking to people from China more often.
I speak with them quite often, and my acquaintance with China is not casual. I would however be foolish to reveal the nature of that acquaintance publicly, and will not do so; you can either believe me, or not. However I have not known anyone to refer to the church as anything other than "the Three Self church"-- never by its full name, to the point where I had no clue that it had a fuller name.
- I agree with you on the "communism" thing which is why i put it in quotes but tell me what the "official" name of the government party in power is called?
Zimbabwe and North Korea both have "democratic" and/or "republic" in their name, as did the country run by the Khmer Rouge; they are anything but. Technically, China also has the word "republic" in its name, but its a bit of a stretch given that which party you vote for is pre-decided and local rulers (ie Hong Kong) are selected by the government.
As to whether Slashdot is banned in China, I could find out pretty easily, but in any case im sure the 50 Cent Partyhas a special dispensation to bypass the GFW in order to bend opinion.
I do hate to pull out the shill card, but there are a large number of anonymous posts in this thread where the author is both highly defensive of Chinese policy and highly critical of US policy, which is a strategy (changing the discussion, goalpost shifting) officially recommended for the 50 cent party. I keep seeing this same letter (Ã) in their posts, which occurs on the pinyin keyboard, and they use very strange english phrases ("flogging the religion") which I have never heard native speakers use.
I would have to be naieve to assume that there are no Chinese shills here, and your attack on free speech in point 3 jives with the Chinese official stance that "some kinds of thought must not be tolerated".