Wednesday, October 07, 2009
People's Republic of the Grass Mud Horse?
A video of the "Grass Mud Horse Song" became a big hit in China in January of 2009. Some analysts have interpreted this song as a protest against censorship. According to Michael Wines,
"The grass-mud horse is an example of something that, in China’s authoritarian system, passes as subversive behavior. Conceived as an impish protest against censorship, the foul-named little horse has not merely made government censors look ridiculous, although it has surely done that.
It has also raised real questions about China’s ability to stanch the flow of information over the Internet — a project on which the Chinese government already has expended untold riches, and written countless software algorithms to weed deviant thought from the world’s largest cyber-community."You can read the rest of Michael Wines article here:
Michael Wines, “A Dirty Pun Tweaks China’s Online Censors,” New York Times, March 12, 2009.
Watch “The Song of ‘Grass Mud Horse (草泥马)’" Video (Warning Explicit Captions.)
More articles about the Grass Mud Horse:
Xiao Qiang, "Music Video: The Song of the Grass Mud Horse 《草泥马之歌》" China Digital Times, February 8, 2009.
Oiwan Lam, “China: More on Grass Mud Horse,” Global Voices Online, March 2, 2009.
Oiwan Lam, “China: Goodbye Grass Mud Horse,” Global Voices Online, March 18, 2009.
CNN Report explaining 'Grass Mud Horse' phenomenon, featuring Rebecca MacKinnon
Grass Mud Horse Cartoon Video on YouTube:
Labels: Censorship, China, Grass Mud Horse, Internet, Net Control
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Net Control: Chinese Internet Censorship
To keep up with the latest news about censorship in China start with the New York Times' Internet Censorship in China
Listen to Jane Macartney reporting from Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen square protests: "Chinese censors cut off Twitter, Hotmail and Flickr" (The Times of London, June 3, 2009.)
Rebecca MacKinnon teaches at Hong Kong University and writes about the internet at her blog RConversation. She is a great source for the latest discussion of what is going on in China:
Rebecca MacKinnon, "China's Censorship Arms Race Escalates" (CircleID, September 29, 2009.)
Listen to Jane Macartney reporting from Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen square protests: "Chinese censors cut off Twitter, Hotmail and Flickr" (The Times of London, June 3, 2009.)
Rebecca MacKinnon teaches at Hong Kong University and writes about the internet at her blog RConversation. She is a great source for the latest discussion of what is going on in China:
Rebecca MacKinnon, "China's Censorship Arms Race Escalates" (CircleID, September 29, 2009.)
Labels: Censorship, China, Net Control
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Behind the Golden Shield: Internet in China
China Digital Times: Video: Sino-Korean Online Gaming Tensions, (October 8, 2008.)
Description: "This video of a Korean gamer’s rant against Chinese gamers and Chinese civilization in general has been making the rounds in Chinese cyberspace."
Journeyman Pictures video about "Internet Addiction--China" (January, 2008)
Description: "Pressure on Chinese children to succeed is turning them into reclusive computer junkies. The Internet has become the only place they can escape. "
Journeyman Pictures video about "The Great Fire Wall of China" (May, 2008)
Description: "China has the most sophisticated censorship and Internet surveillance in the world. But despite this autocratic control some guerrilla bloggers are still managing to get their message through. "
"Virtual Carnivores," China's Online Vigilantes, The Economist, (October 2, 2008)
Description: "Untold legions police the Internet in China to block information deemed politically threatening. But the world’s biggest online population still has a wild streak. Worries are growing about Internet vigilantes who mount “renrou sousuo”, or “human-flesh searches”, to ferret out perceived wrongdoers.""
Labels: China, Internet, surveillance
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Watching China's Digital Revolution
Looking for a source to help you keep up with the digital revolution in China? China Digital Times is a "collaborative news website" created by "Berkeley China Internet Project (BCIP) out of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley."
Here's the link:
China Digital Times: Information Revolution
Here's the link:
China Digital Times: Information Revolution
Labels: China
Friday, November 30, 2007
Organized Hackers
I think that cyber hactivism is a very scary concept. After watching the video in class and reading " JAPAN: Organized Chinese hackers hit official Japan sites", from The Japan Times it seems to me that this is warfare. In the article, hackers from China attacked Japanese and Taiwanese websites. They did this because of attacks on their websites from Japan and Taiwan. These attacks were carried out by a large number of hackers coming to the websites simultaneously.
" The newspaper Wen Wei Po said groups organized 1,900 hackers to launch a
massive attack on more than 200 official Web sites in Japan and Taiwan on
Monday. The attack was scheduled to continue for a week, it said.The daily said the hackers were divided into five groups, each responsible for different tasks."
I'm confused about why attacking websites is so dangerous.
"Dozens of Japanese official Web sites, including the Foreign Ministry, NationalI can understand hacking into secret databases or defense computers but just hacking into websites seems minor. Maybe because the next step could be ruining the economy through computers or maybe I'm just missing something. Hopefully I can gain more insight.
Police Agency, Japan Coast Guard and Defense Agency, and some official Taiwan
Web sites were shut down, the report says."
Labels: China, cyber hacking, Japan, Taiwan
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Hackers With Borders
Traditionally the hacker culture as been seen as an international movement and society. However this is not solely the case. Independent groups in both China and Japan have made attacks on each other in an attempt to disrupt Internet site viewing. On August 7, 2004 the Japan Times reported in their article "Japan: Organized Chinese hackers hit official Japanese Sites" that a group of about 1900 Chinese hackers attacked over 200 official web sites in Japan and Taiwan, in retaliation to Japanese hacker's attack on the China Federation of Defending Diaoyu Islands website. Allegedly they replaced the site with a page containing a Japanese nationalistic expression:
"the Uotsuri Island belongs to Japan"
It is interesting to imagine how these major governments would handle such confrontation. Do these governments support the actions of their private hackers forces? With such bad relations already existing between these countries could this trade of blow escalate to war like scenario?
"the Uotsuri Island belongs to Japan"
It is interesting to imagine how these major governments would handle such confrontation. Do these governments support the actions of their private hackers forces? With such bad relations already existing between these countries could this trade of blow escalate to war like scenario?
Labels: China, Hacker, Japan, Uotsuri Island
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
China's Great Wall Communications
For centuries the Chinese have greatly valued their isolation. Always looking to improve with in their vast borders while avoiding assimilation with surrounding countries. They have also historically shown that they are a nation capable of great change. The backbone of their success during these times of change was always force. Governments have consistently valued the success and happiness of the nation way over that of the individual. Today these statements ring loud through china's current status and behavior. However today instead of building a vast wall, legendary in both height and length they have built a communications wall. Perhaps even more of a feet then the massive wall the Chinese Communist regime has been is able to monitor and control nearly all aspects of the Internet. The Internet which is known for its vast nearly infinite nature is heavily policed by this totalitarian government. Due to the wall's success China has managed to stay isolated in this ever "flattening world". A feat unmatched by any regime large or small in the world.
Labels: "Flattening World" Communications wall, China, Regime
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Welcome to Shenzen
China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People - New York Times
The City of Shenzen near Hong Kong in southern China is a fast growing manufacturing center with a population of almost 13 million people. Shenzen is also a laboratory for the latest in urban surveillance technology. According to the New York Times, a new generation of surveillance software and digital ID cards are being introduced in Shenzen. These identity cards will contain chips that not only carry a lot of information but also allow for the geographical location of the bearer. The combination of geo-location with personal information makes urban population control a reality for the Chinese government. The Times Keith Bradsher reports that:
The City of Shenzen near Hong Kong in southern China is a fast growing manufacturing center with a population of almost 13 million people. Shenzen is also a laboratory for the latest in urban surveillance technology. According to the New York Times, a new generation of surveillance software and digital ID cards are being introduced in Shenzen. These identity cards will contain chips that not only carry a lot of information but also allow for the geographical location of the bearer. The combination of geo-location with personal information makes urban population control a reality for the Chinese government. The Times Keith Bradsher reports that:
"Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card."The role of American corporations and investment firms in making this system possible is important to note. China Public Security has been financed in part by American investment groups. According to the Times:
"Incorporated in Florida, China Public Security has raised much of the money to develop its technology from two investment funds in Plano, Tex., Pinnacle Fund and Pinnacle China Fund. Three investment banks — Roth Capital Partners in Newport Beach, Calif.; Oppenheimer & Company in New York; and First Asia Finance Group of Hong Kong — helped raise the money."The software used is based on the Windows platform and must work on servers manufactured by American corporations like Cisco and HP. The point is that the political security system of China could not work without the material assistance of American companies:
"The role of American companies in helping Chinese security forces has periodically been controversial in the United States. Executives from Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems testified in February 2006 at a Congressional hearing called to review whether they had deliberately designed their systems to help the Chinese state muzzle dissidents on the Internet; they denied having done so."
Labels: China, surveillance
