Remember the much anticipated Green Dam software that was to be installed on every computer in China? This software was supposed to have all sorts of blocking technology that would censor pornographic content from every computer, regardless of age or consent. With this installed, no Chinese citizen could access these sites. While it is quite an un-American notion to block someone from viewing something, it is acceptable to think that the government may be blocking content that they don’t qualify for age-wise, it seems they may have some ulterior motives. Consider the fact that along with pornography, they block all sorts of sites pertaining to anti-communist, or any banned spiritual movements. The banned movement of Falun Gong is always under fire by the Chinese for influencing their citizens, and because of this they have censored him in pretty much every medium.

The proposal initially was slated to have the software released on every computer in China, yet the public revolted against this. The software was to be mandatory installation on every computer, and the computer manufacturers were expected to incur these costs themselves. They didn’t like this, because they had to spend more money employing people to download it, while they charged the citizens the same amount, and therefore, were losing money. The citizens didn’t like it because through this, no matter what their age, they were blocked from the content. While the intention of blocking kids from pornographic content is a good and noble idea, blocking adults who are well over the required age is not. There are many holes in their plan as well. They did not consider that the people wouldn’t just roll over and endure this injustice, and they certainly did not. They fought and fought and almost boycotted the buying of computers until the software was deactivated. Turns out, they won their battle.

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Iran is known nationally for its tight ship on Internet communications. They have been known to oppress their people by blocking them from many different sites. Whether it be an adult entertainment site, an American glory site, even a rebel’s group site, the Iran citizens have been blocked from it at some point or another. This puts them in a state of complete disarray, and defeats some to the poing where they don’t even want to try anymore, and they just follow any order the government gives without question or regret; exactly what they want. Still, there are others who are non-conformists, and will fight order to the end. These people know how to get around the Internet blocks, and can do so pretty easily.

They have a tool of the trade; an anonymous proxy. This is a program that allows a user to get by any Internet blockade, no matter who instated it. They are either software based, or we-based. Either way, fire up your proxy and type in the address of the site you wish to go to that is blocked normally, and the private proxy will act as a middle man, and retrieve the site for you. This way, you are allowed access to the site because your browser which blocked you just sees that you are going to the un-blocked proxy site. This serves two purposes; first, the site is yours and you have uncensored access, and second, it leaves trace of you visiting on your computer.

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It may seem like I am picking on China today, but they are just putting themselves in the spotlight with yet an another controversy regarding Internet censorship . Australian news TheWest.com.au reported that a PR company acting on behalf of Chinese milk producer Sanlu, asked Baidu, China’s leading search engine, to censor and stifle any negative publicity about tainted milk….twice.

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Beginning this month, many news sources (including Cnet and PC Magazine) have been reporting on the Chinese version of Skype that spies on certain “sensitive words” and blocks them from servers if needed. Skype is a software that allows you to make phone calls over the Internet and use your computer’s microphone and speakers to communicate with others. It is sort of like a beefed up version of AIM, but along with instant messaging allows you to video conference and make phone calls.

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As an update to my recent post about China’s Great Firewall it seemed appropriate to discuss the methods for bypassing the Golden Shield Project. With the Olympics in full swing, and nearly halfway over, it is only a matter of time before China’s government re-bans the websites and Beijing is again part of China’s Internet censorship program. Chinese officials lifted their ban on certain websites after journalists were upset that many of the sites they needed to access were unavailable because of the GSP. Once the final medal is awarded it most likely won’t be much longer before China is back to banning as much content as possible, so it is important to know ways to bypass the Great Firewall and maintain Internet privacy.

The following methods may seem familiar, as they are used for anonymous surfing, but they do in fact work rather well for circumventing the GSP and gaining access to banned sites.

• Anonymous Proxy servers: Anonymous proxy servers based outside of China can be used to access blocked content. The sites are blocked only to Chinese citizens and therefore if you surf using a U.S.-based proxy server then you can gain access to restricted sites. The website will read the IP address and give you permission to view the site. At the same time, the server will hide your IP so that anyone snooping the connection will see a person from Tulsa, OK surfing the Internet. As an added bonus a good proxy server will also encrypt the data being transmitted so that anyone spying can not view the information.
• Foreign companies can apply for a local website hosted in China. While this method does not apply to an individual user attempting to access a banned site, it is a method to bypass the Great Firewall since the company’s content does not have to go through the Great Firewall (but the company does have to apply for a local ICP license)
• Using secure tunnels such as a Virtual Private Network (VPN). GSP can’t filter secure traffic that is being communicated and therefore secure tunnels provide a way for users to access content and create sites that would otherwise be banned.
• Onion routing networks, such as Tor, can be used since it requires a network of computers to encrypt and mask your information. This method is, in essence, very similar to an anonymous proxy server. The major drawback of Tor is that you do not know who set up the anonymous connection you are passing through. As noted in an earlier post, you really have no idea who set up the connection and therefore anyone can invade your privacy through this trusted network. If a group of grad students and professors can do it, why wouldn’t the Chinese government?
• FreeGate: a software utility created for Iranian and Chinese citizens to bypass any Internet censorship attempts by the government. The software finds open proxies, which are not blocked and can be accessed by any user, and penetrate firewalls. This useful tool is a bit controversial as it has been reported to be a Trojan virus.
• Reporters without Borders offers a “Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents” (PDF) which gives detailed information and tools for blogging and surfing anonymously. The handbook gives detailed instructions, including screenshots, for setting up a blog and remaining anonymous.

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No, this isn’t a clever campaign to start a world movement to get rid of the Great Firewall and liberate China’s netizens. With the arrival of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, it seems that this would be an appropriate time to focus on The Great Firewall of China, or the Golden Shield Project (as it is officially known). The Golden Shield is a censorship and surveillance program run by China’s Ministry of Public Service. While the Chinese government has been using the Great Firewall to censor and block websites in China since 2003, many of us do not have a full understanding of the Golden Shield Project and its intricacies. This article is not meant to start a revolution against the Chinese government to bring down the Great Firewall, but a means to gain a better understanding of something that many Americans and Europeans have little knowledge about–Internet censorship using GSP.

While most Americans and Europeans do have the right to choose what sites they visit and surf the Internet freely (again the keyword is “most”), other countries’ citizens are stifled by government censorship of the Internet. In China any site that expresses opposing views or states a negative opinion of the government is banned. Not only will the site be banned, but the authors may face criminal charges and a lengthy prison sentence. While many sites have recently been unblocked by the Chinese government because of the Beijing Olympics, many other sites including, pro-democracy advocates, Taiwanese government and media, and blog sites are still banned. The idea of having privacy rights or any type of Internet privacy is a concept that many Chinese citizens have little understanding of.

The concept of the Great Firewall started in 1998 and began operating in 2003. The need for the GSP stemmed from Communist regimes fearing that the Chinese Democracy Party would develop an extensive and powerful network that couldn’t be controlled. The GSP acts as a firewall (hence the nickname) and blocks content based on IP addresses and a massive database of banned websites. The IPs are banned and prevented from gaining access to blocked content basically by using a proxy server the opposite way we would use it (think: reverse proxy). GSP combines IP filtering with DNS poisoning to maintain control over the Internet in China.

Along with IP blocking, URL-, DNS-, and Packet-filtering, the GSP has a unique characteristic: it doesn’t just ban sites based on these methods, but also bans websites based on the content. This blog would be banned instantly because it shows methods for gaining access to “forbidden sites,” but also any content that is considered subversive by the government would be subject to banishment (this means any pro-democracy, pro-Tibet, and pro-anything else the Chinese government is against).

The final point that has been brought about because of the Great Firewall is self-censorship. While sites that should be banned do slip through the cracks, many Chinese citizens end up practicing self-censorship and not visiting these sites anyway. It makes perfect sense: Just because the site hasn’t been banned yet, is it still okay to look at? Why take that chance and end up in prison like many Chinese bloggers do? The thought that you are being watched by the Golden Shield Project even if the site is allowed on the network is a mighty force…people tend to act differently when their bosses, or the authorities, are paying attention.

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CNSNews.com has reported that China is loosening their restrictions on Internet censorship, something that privacy advocates have been pressuring China to do for years. With the Olympics coming to town, the Chinese government has lifted many of the tight controls which previously restricted its citizens from freely surfing the Internet. The important part of the story is that these restrictions have not just been lifted at the Olympic games compound, but in other parts of Beijing as well. This ultimately means that Chinese netizens can now use Wikipedia, BBC China, and non-government sites such as Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders. These sites, along with many other have been banned by the Chinese government via The Great Firewall.

For the first time in years, or ever in some cases, Chinese citizens have the the chance to surf the Internet freely and see China from a different point of view. The Chinese government banned many websites that do not coincide with their point of view and Chinese citizens did not have the opportunity to see things from an outside perspective. Chinese netizens had to resort to anonymous proxy servers and other methods to maintain their Internet privacy. People can now openly view and dialog some of the major issues facing China such as: air pollution, Tibet, media censorship, and human rights.

The lifting of the ban came about due to an overwhelming demand from foreign journalists that were angered because they could not visit certain sites they needed. While the ban being lifted is a big deal in China, many sites are still censored and unable to be accessed. Reporters without Borders has stated that their English-language site is no longer banned but the Chinese-language site is. Many Tibetan advocacy sites and the Chinese Human Rights Defenders site still faces the restrictions placed by The Great Firewall.

Although the system isn’t perfect, China did agree to loosen the restrictions for the Olympics. This is a step in the right direction, as far as human rights are concerned. While Chinese government and media will always defend their Internet censorship policies, the rest of the world still sees it as a way to oppress their people even more. The major question posed to Chinese citizens is: Does an average person really worry about the censorship? Do they want to know about the U.S. or U.K.’s view on China’s government policies? Or is it a case of ignorance is bliss and as long as they have a job, shelter, and food for their family?

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The alleged human rights abusers are not helping their case after the problems in Tibet. According to The Tech Herald China is trying to censor the internet in U.S. owned hotels during the Olympics this summer. The Chinese government is being accused of “exerting pressure on U.S. owned hotels to install Internet filtration systems that will censor online content during the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.” The accusations come at the hand of U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. He stated that the Chinese government sent orders to at least two hotels, and continued to say that China is turning the 2008 Olympics into the “Olympics of oppresion.”

China wants the U.S. owned hotels to install internet filtration systems to be used to censor certain online content during the Olympics. My guess would be….any news sites, blogging sites, Wikipedia, and Google. This is the trend within the Great Firewall, so most likely the same content will be banned by the government during the games. I wonder how many laptops passing through customs will have some kind of anonymity software installed? My guess is…too many to count. Some more information on internet privacy and maintaining anoymity can be found here.

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The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the plan to reopen Tibet…well who knows. Chinese authorities will not release any information regarding the reopening of Tibet’s borders to foreigners. Originally, the date to reopen was set to be May 1st, but now it is uncertain when this will happen. Certain “reliable reports,” according to the article, state that Tibet won’t reopen until the start of this year’s Olympic games.

This isn’t really something that seems unexpected. With all the things that have been going on in Tibet, this is just the icing on the cake. China’s Great Firewall limited all news access about Tibet. Chinese citizens could not search for news updates about the current situation since Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube are all blocked by the Chinese censors. Surfing through a proxy server was the only hope Chinese citizens had to find information, that is until the Chinese government shut down all forms of media in Tibet and made all foreigners leave the area.

I know the use of proxy servers and other internet privacy tools must be on the rise in certain parts of the world. Chinese citizens are not allowed to view websites that are outside China’s borders, severely limiting the news and information flow through the country. Bloggers and media face severe penalties if they post things that the Chinese government finds offense or does not approve of. The need for anonymity becomes more important every day. I know I will be using a proxy server…I do not do anything illegal therefore I shouldn’t be tracked when using the internet, and the same should especially go for the Chinese citizens who can’t even look up information on Wikipedia or use Google.

While I am glad I have certain freedoms that others do not, who knows how extreme censorship can become…therefore I will continue using my proxy server to stay anonymous.

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Here is an AP article to update you on the technology forum in Brazil.

Here is a summary of the decisions made regarding the U.S. control over the Internet:

-None

Thank you and good night….

Anyway, no real action has been made in regulating the Internet, especially the U.S. control of the Internet. The only thing anyone knows right now is: “With no concrete recommendations for action, the only certainty going forward is that any resentment about the American influence will only grow as more users from the developing world come online, changing the face of the global network.”

It seems that the Russian representative took charge and requested “‘practical steps’ for moving Internet governance ‘under the control of the international community’” be made. Thanks for the heads up Russia…I thought this was the Brazil forum on introducing new lattes to Starbucks, err….never mind.

Brazil chimed in with the notion to make ICANN independent [of the U.S.] and wanted “more concrete recommendations out of the forum.”

So a big day in the tech world. Soon some “practical steps” will be presented as well as some other “concrete recommendations.” But as of today….no one has done anything about anything. Way to go ladies and gentlemen.

How can a global community be expected to govern the Internet when this forum can’t come up with anything? Basically, they met to say that for next time have some ideas. Sounds like a group of college students doing their final project. Great…

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