[huridocs-tech] USA: Fighting Net Censorship Abroad

Fighting Net Censorship Abroad
By Mitch Wagner

2:00 a.m. Oct. 3, 2002 PDT

Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would allocate
$100 million to thwart Internet censorship by authoritarian regimes.

Rep. Chris Cox (R-Calif.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would
establish an Office of Global Internet Freedom to foster development
of censorship-busting technology for users in countries including
China and Saudi Arabia. The bill would allocate $50 million each for
2003 and 2004.

The office would be part of the International Broadcasting Bureau,
which provides engineering and administration for the Voice of
America, Radio and TV Marti' (Office of Cuba Broadcasting), and other
electronic media aimed at viewers in authoritarian countries.

"With nearly 10 percent of the world's population now online and more
gaining access each day, the Internet stands to become the most
powerful engine for democratization and the free exchange of ideas
ever invented," the bill says.

However, authoritarian governments are trying to limit their
citizens' access to the Internet. The bill cites a catalog of
censorship techniques: surveillance of e-mail and message boards,
blocking content based on keywords, blocking individuals from
visiting proscribed websites (often without those individuals even
knowing the sites have been blocked), blacklisting users seeking to
visit proscribed websites, and wholesale denial of Internet access.

So far, the fight against censorship has largely been taken up by the
private sector and the hacker community. Hackers are working on two
anti-censorship packages under development.

One, called Peekabooty[13], aims to provide a peer-to-peer platform
for uncensored Web access. Another, Six/Four, being developed by the
Hacktivismo group, is more ambitious, planned as a full-scale
peer-to-peer platform for all Internet activities, including Web
browsing and instant messaging. But neither package is near
completion.

A third package, Triangle Boy, was developed by the SafeWeb company.
Triangle Boy ran in a pilot project funded by Voice of America this
year, and is currently down, awaiting further funding.

"We can create a space where Chinese can discuss issues among
themselves, which hasn't been possible until now," said Stephen Hsu,
co-founder and chairman of SafeWeb. "Someone in China can get access
to a chat server in the U.S. and post a message that will be heard by
other Chinese people."

Cory Doctorow, outreach coordinator for the Electronic Frontier
Foundation[14], said that thwarting Internet censorship is important
because the Internet permits users to be exposed to a broad range of
messages.

"This isn't about imposing one country's ideology on another, but
rather about letting people freely choose which ideologies, ideas and
people to be exposed to and making up their own mind about what's
right," he said. "Rather than broadcasting any nation's message, this
is allowing people to receive any message they choose to receive."

China, with 40 million Internet users, censors the Internet using an
array of blocking technologies collectively nicknamed in the West as
the "Great Firewall of China." The Chinese government blocks not only
websites but also proxy servers that can be used to circumvent
censorship, according to "You've Got Dissent," a recent RAND[15]
report on Internet use in China.

Government monitors known as "big mamas" keep an eye on chat rooms.
Thousands of Internet cafes have been closed over the past year for
failure to install surveillance software, and at least 25 Chinese
have been arrested in the last two years for online activities.

The House bill, HR5524, is co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos
(D-Calif.). The Senate is expected to introduce its own version of
the bill soon, sponsored by John Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.).


Copyright[21] co 1994-2002 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.


*** References from this document ***

[orig] http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,55530,00.html
[8] mailto:mwagner@TheWorld.com%3Fsubject=FightingNetCensorshipAbroad
[13] http://www.peekabooty.org/
[14] http://www.eff.org/
[15] http://www.rand.org/
[16] http://r.wired.com/r/wn_related/http://www.wired.com/news/p\
olitics/0,1283,54027,00.html
[17] http://r.wired.com/r/wn_related/http://www.wired.com/news/p\
olitics/0,1283,53933,00.html
[18] http://r.wired.com/r/wn_related/http://www.wired.com/news/p\
olitics/0,1283,53389,00.html
[19] http://r.wired.com/r/wn_related/http://www.wired.com/news/p\
olitics/0,1283,51877,00.html
[20] http://r.wired.com/r/wn_related/http://www.wired.com/news/b\
usiness/0,1367,50177,00.html
[21] http://hotwired.lycos.com/home/copyright.html



========== HURIDOCS-Tech listserv ==========
Send mail intended for the list to <huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.
Archives of the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/maillist.php
To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: subscribe huridocs-tech
To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: unsubscribe huridocs-tech
If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.