March 3, 2002

11:17 AM

Who Lost China's Internet? Here's a problem for your American company. You want access to the lucrative and growing Chinese information technology market but the Chinese government is demanding some questionable things from you. If you're Cisco you bend over backwards to make your routers filter subversive content. If you're Network Solutions you donate 300 viruses to study. If you're Yahoo! then you censor chat rooms, filter searches, and underreport your traffic. But if you're Microsoft you refuse to cough up your source code and call their bluff. Strangely, that puts Microsoft, The Voice of America, and the Cult of the Dead Cow on the same side. (via Peek-a-Booty)
posted by euphorb (11 comments total)

sorry, this has been discussed already
posted by machaus at 11:32 AM on March 3, 2002

Though it was a very well worded and constructed front page post.
posted by geoff. at 11:41 AM on March 3, 2002

geoff., I second that. Even if this might be considered a double-post, I never noticed the first post as it described the author's opinion more than the article's contents. This one brought the issue to my attention successfully.
posted by crog at 11:51 AM on March 3, 2002

Oops. Thanks for pointing out the previous post and the compliments. I figured it might have been posted so I searched but evidently not well enough.
posted by euphorb at 11:55 AM on March 3, 2002

I never noticed the first post either. Personally I wouldn't mind if this link was given attention on the front page every day until China's present political system grows up and joins the civilized world in the 21st century.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:24 PM on March 3, 2002

Microsoft and CDC allied against China.... truth is stranger than fiction, indeed.
It looks like some of these companies are so desperate for business they'll do anything.

I'm glad this got posted, I never saw the first one. This story reminds me of the Michael Ledeen editorial asserting that China is moving not from communism to capitalism, but from communism to fascism.
posted by insomnyuk at 12:33 PM on March 3, 2002

Microsoft must have mixed up which communist dictatorship countries were "evil" and which were "our friends".
posted by bobo123 at 12:54 PM on March 3, 2002

I was suprised that there weren't more comments the first time this got posted, now I know why. Insomnyuk, thanks for the Ledeen link, that's a fascinating article.
posted by homunculus at 2:24 PM on March 3, 2002

Brownie points for spreading the CDC gospel.
posted by yangwar at 4:49 PM on March 3, 2002

That is an excellent article.

It should be propagated broadly. I think the hacker community will, once a critical mass of people become aware of the depth and breadth of Chinese censorship, attempt to overcome it.

I'm very curious as to what solutions would be created.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:49 PM on March 3, 2002

I hate to say it.. but.. GOOD FOR MICROSOFT!
posted by wackybrit at 11:31 AM on March 4, 2002