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10 ways the Chinese Internet is different from yours[Slides]

networkworld.com — We all know that China censors the Internet for its citizens behind "The Great Firewall of China," but what are the consequences of that? Here's a balanced look at the pros and cons of the Chinese approach.

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  • nahsrocketeer75, on 05/14/2008, -3/+17Much of the information in this comes from The Atlantic's James Fallows, who on his blog notes that it also "includes at least one thing I didn't know before." He doesn't say what it is, though. Curious. http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/ ...
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -6/+34James Fallows is full of crap. So is this article.

      #1. It's only slower in some places. In the bigger more modern cities it's just as fast or faster than the US (though nowhere near as fast as Korea.)

      #2. Only specific keywords are monitored, only in Chinese, and the monitoring is mostly passive. If you try to google the Tiananmen Massacre you will lose google access for about a minute, but then it will come back on again. Nothing in English is monitored/filtered.

      #3.Yes, some sites are blocked. Not very many though, and the blockage is usually temporary. That creepy red screen is some artist's conception. Also, censorship is decreasing. Wikipedia and google video are currently up after being unavailable for years.

      #4 I have used the internet in China for four years and never had a blackout.

      #5. The censorship is all done via site-blocking. See item 3. There are no cops looking over your shoulder in the netcafes; whoever decided to use that photo is a moron.

      #6. There is TONS of porn. Even mainstream news sites have links to softcore porn.

      #7. The Chinese internet is dangerous as *****.

      #8. There is PLENTY of spam.

      #9. True.

      #10. True.

      So hooray for ignorant anti-China fearmongering.
      • akira117, on 05/15/2008, -4/+6Some source links (backing up your experience) would help your rundown.
        • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -2/+8I'm not aware of any articles that specifically counter any of the allegations in the article. I could show you what Chinese softcore porn or a 503 error looks like, but I think the burden of proof is on the prosecution here.
      • blagoaw, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5#1 is ridiculous. He was clearly testing non-Chinese sites. Why the hell should they care if American sites are slow? It's like us trying to access Chinese sites from here. Surprise! Sites hosted on the other side of the planet are relatively slow. Those close to you are relatively fast.

        There are plenty (dozens) of Chinese Youtube clones that stream video faster than you can watch. And because there isn't as much copyright protection, you can watch whatever you want instantly.. and there are even redundant local caches all over for greater speed because they don't get sued. How terrible.
      • blagoaw, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6(just in case people get confused by the tone I began with -- I'm agreeing with Hangly, and probably find the article even more ridiculous than he did)
      • nwuphie43, on 05/19/2008, -0/+0Hey Hangly, just curious, why are you so against James Fallows? I think he is pretty unbiased and objective about China. In fact I may even say he's somewhat pro-China (well not pro, but he is definitely not anti-China)
  • Hisnameis, on 05/14/2008, -5/+106all they can google is pandas?
  • BigManOnCampus, on 05/14/2008, -24/+23Switching to ipv6 should be mandated in the U.S. Seriously, there should be a gov't directive to do it. Most OS's remaining on the net are perfectly capable of handling it, so there's no longer any issue, right?
    • asspants, on 05/14/2008, -2/+64...or we could just slowly roll it out, as interwebs engineers deem necessary instead of letting the government put it's hands all over ***** they shouldn't.
      • Rikkochet, on 05/14/2008, -2/+21Gotta agree. "The engineers" built the internet and know what they're doing. "The government" gets letters from people with too much time on their hands, powerful lobby groups with economic motivations, and committees full of bright people who collectively become total morons.
        Now I'm pretty socialist for Digg, but keep the ***** governments away from the Internet. This thing is bigger and smarter than they will ever be.
      • BigManOnCampus, on 05/14/2008, -7/+2I didn't say a government mandate that it has to be in place tomorrow.
        • secleinteer, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2It's not about the details - you give the government ANY control and they'll take 10x more.
    • cesclaveria, on 05/14/2008, -2/+9if the OS were the only problem everyone would have made the switch years ago.
    • Awspire, on 05/14/2008, -4/+21there should be a gov't directive to do it

      ***** Government directives, I'm for popular demand.
      • KMartSheriff, on 05/14/2008, -0/+1If we did things in the country based on popular demand, well, I could see that being both really good and potentially very bad. In the end though, I'd say I'd definitely have to be for it.
      • stalefries, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3You can't really get popular demand on a subject most people wouldn't even understand.
    • ravage86, on 05/14/2008, -0/+5I don't think there's an IPv6 spam blacklist yet, why would you want to mandate we switch?
    • ricsto, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1I cant be arsed to learn v6. and the addresses are long and annoying to say.
  • ell0bo, on 05/14/2008, -3/+48They can say that entire title with one character?
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4no...
      中国和你的因特网的区别
      11 characters. Maybe someone can be more efficient than me though.
    • DubiousDrewski, on 05/15/2008, -4/+1I'm sorry, what are you guys referring to? Where did they show the title in one character?
    • DubiousDrewski, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1You guys are assholes. What was ell0bo talking about?
  • lucidguru, on 05/14/2008, -2/+16I wish it would have talked about proxies... When people are spying on you encryption and proxies end up becoming the norm.
    • Neoanarchist, on 05/14/2008, -1/+12I just read an article in Network World that detailed the technical dynamics of "the Great Firewall". It was a pretty interesting read. It said the government knows full well about proxies and VPNs and could easily restrict them should they deem it necessary. However, VPNs are most often used in conjunction with other businesses so it would be detrimental to economic activity and would cause a huge backlash. The article also mentioned that proxy use is actually pretty low and that most Chinese people aren't the least bit angered or even perturbed by the firewall. It stated that the government response to proxies was as long as they weren't used heavily it wasn't an issue warranting a crackdown.
      • Neoanarchist, on 05/14/2008, -0/+9***** I forgot to add that Cisco routers and firewalls are used for the Great Firewall. Cicso states that they are the same routers they sell to many companies wishing to monitor their network's internet activity.

        Overall, knowledge or information about the Great Firewall is pretty low within China. Many Chinese citizens don't know any different so it is not a big deal to them.
      • gritta, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Interesting, cheers, you got a link to that article?
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2Tor works. So does freegate.
    • Relikh, on 05/15/2008, -2/+3I live in China and the funny thing about proxies is... they don't work.
  • zen53, on 05/14/2008, -2/+57The geeks in the know in China have access to an uncensored internet provided by another Country..
    • Mootabolife, on 05/14/2008, -8/+27.. and they are promptly taken out back and shot.
      • albinorhino101, on 05/14/2008, -4/+4...and then end up in the "Bodies" exhibit at your local mall or science center.
      • joanthens, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5You can not be traced if you use encrypted tunneling techniques, even your exit point doesn't know where you came from. It is not possible to catch the geek. Unless the government shoots anyone who use any form of encryption. I know in some countries using encryption can be a crime.
      • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+7No one has bothered me yet, and I hang around subversive sites (like digg) all the time.
      • blagoaw, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6People are pretty much aware that no one's going to give them trouble unless they are doing something that the government will find significantly subversive. Mostly, people aren't interested in criticizing the government or anything because socially it's generally not considered heroic or enviable. But hypothetically, this is roughly how people might think of it -

        Visiting blocked porn sites through proxies and/or Tor - No problem. Millions of guys do this.
        Posting messages on a BBS that incite riots and or protests - You're on thin ice. Think first.
        Taking part in mocking some aspect of the government's decision or policy on some random blog - Millions do this and they're not going to take an interest in you unless you're a big fish.
        Regularly posting subversive content on a very subversive BBS - Might not want to do that. Again, you're probably fine unless you're a big fish, but don't push it.
        Evangelizing Falun Gong, and/or frequently taking part in Falun Gong forums - This is a no-no. It's about as respected as Scientology is in the US, and they come down on it about as hard as a lot of people would secretly wish.

        Anyway.. Most people can do pretty much anything they would ever like to do and aren't at all concerned about it. If you're a regular guy and you're worried about the police coming after you, your Chinese friends are going to laugh at you and tell you not to worry. If you're a dissident, or member of a religious sect (some FG members go away for 3 years or so), then you'd have to be more careful. Then again, you'd be more careful if you were a real dissident in the US too.
        • Locke23, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2See, but that's what bothers me... I understand China's communist stand, but I won't live there..
          even tho I'm not going to partake in Falun Gong forums, just knowing that I can.. That i can bash my government as much as I want, whenever I want is an irreplaceable comfort, whether I do so or not.
          • blagoaw, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I agree entirely. China's government is not the government for Americans, and I would fight hard to ensure that Americans don't have a government like China's. At the same time, I will come to the defense of the Chinese when I find people making misguided stands against the Chinese government which run contrary to what most Chinese actually desire, which are in the meantime, destabilizing the world.
      • synyster, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1not very often see comments like these on digg
    • seshomarusamma, on 05/15/2008, -0/+11this is *****, the firewall doesn't target individuals. Chinese companies can openly sell VPN and tor is available for download.
      i use tor all the time and i'm alive
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2I have a direct VPN to India.
  • BoonTobias, on 05/14/2008, -11/+19they're probably burying the ***** out of this article, the internet must be riot over there
    • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Yeah the Chinese government must be really scared... Or maybe they're users know there's a firewall but most of them 1. Can't read English 2. Don't really care about making pipebombs 3. Can talk about anti-government things like.... off the internet?

      OH NO!!
  • axisofphilippe, on 05/14/2008, -9/+35Not Mentioned:
    11. It has straight pubic hair.
    • gn0stik, on 05/14/2008, -4/+5The internet in china has straight pubic hair? Or is it just the pr0n?
      • yingjai, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4he does. he straightens them with a straightening iron
  • toddomatic, on 05/20/2008, -7/+46Question: How would you even know that your internets are being censored? (How do we know ours is not?)
    • clickx, on 05/14/2008, -7/+38Does a big thing come up saying you can't access the page cause it is available in your country (aside from youtube).

      • Jorin, on 05/14/2008, -1/+16Yep. In Canada CTV and Viacom have agreed to censor Canadian access to Comedy Central material in order to preserve CTV's interest in the content. Canadians cannot watch Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes from the official CN site. Pandora Radio and Demonoid were also censored in Canada.
        • clickx, on 05/14/2008, -0/+5That's nuts. In my book for my poly sci class I read that at any given time 30% of the content on Canadian radio must be from Canada.
        • theshizzler, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2WHAT?!?
      • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+10No. That big red graphic is some idiot artists conception. All you get is a 503 error.
        • itsgotyou, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4They actually rotate the 3 digit error codes. 503; 404; 799; 635 (for dial-ups) so no one would notice.
        • twrife, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1It's not an artists conception, it's a test site so that you can see if certain sites are blocked in China.
    • Myonosken, on 05/14/2008, -3/+15Because someone somewhere would have ***** noticed given every government would have different censors?
    • BoonTobias, on 05/14/2008, -16/+1so you want to find out, do ya
      http://goatse.cz
    • tomz17, on 05/14/2008, -5/+40How do we know our internet is not censored....

      Easy... think of the most offensive or outrageous thing you could possibly think of... (did we land on the moon, 2 girls one cup, who killed JFK, alien coverups, tell me more about scientology, Bush sucks, etc. etc.) Then look it up on the internet... It's all being discussed openly. Our government is not censoring your internet. Better yet, just visit wikileaks!

      Now go to China... look up Tienemann Square, or your favorite religious cult, Taiwan, CPC sucks... etc. etc. yeah... see the difference?
      • tian2992, on 05/14/2008, -7/+1yeah, openly… make a site about alien coverups, JFK and 2G1C and see how much authority do you, have, i accept it, you have the freedom to say it, but the sistem is designed to ridiculize everyone who says different.
        It is not that you cannot say it, is that no one cares about it…
      • KMartSheriff, on 05/14/2008, -2/+1google "*****".

        You will know soon enough.
      • drafhk, on 05/15/2008, -2/+5Here's the problem though, that doesn't actually prove anything. You could view the situation like this: these "outrageous" theories like JFK, alien coverups, etc., are allowed and promoted by the government to throw everyone off the scent of the real stuff they are censoring. All the conspiracy theorists feel like visionaries, and the government still censors stuff that we have no idea exists. Which is once again the point: how do we know that our internet is not being censored? Just because some things that we arbitrarily deem censor-worthy are not censored does not mean that there is no censorship.
    • dpcamp, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2given the amount of stupid ***** i read day in and day out (especially on digg), if we are being censored i don't even want to know what it'd be like uncensored!!!
  • taradisiac, on 05/14/2008, -38/+5The Chinese people want this. They love big CCP totalitarian ***** up their tiny assholes.
    Just don't ***** with the West.
    • hklrs, on 05/14/2008, -3/+14..you´re a big *****
      • lba1986, on 05/14/2008, -7/+2he may be an ***** but unfortunantly he's right. If the Chinese people didn't like their government they would revolt right?
        • itsgotyou, on 05/15/2008, -1/+7They tried revolting before; but the military just crushed them like something small underneath something really big.
        • waydee, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3If the American people didn't like their government they would revolt, right?
          If the British people didn't like their government they would revolt, right?
  • chrissku, on 05/14/2008, -9/+16Plus the whole slanted i thing. (the i on the keyboard)

    (I know what you were thinking)
    • choopie911, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Either way, you just said that the Chinese have slanted i's
  • poidh, on 05/14/2008, -14/+65Pros and cons? There are no pros to censoring the internet.
    • Myonosken, on 05/14/2008, -6/+19It actually explained some. No one is saying it has a good pro, but its called giving a balanced view.
      • poidh, on 05/14/2008, -5/+3Well, the article itself said it was balanced. I suppose if the article itself said it was made of cotton candy then you would automatically believe it.
        • BrewBeau, on 05/14/2008, -2/+4There was one pro, the lower risk of bots and spam. Obviously, not worth the many cons.
    • Rikkochet, on 05/14/2008, -0/+24Sure there are: less spam, control over hackers, control over illegal content.
      The benefits certainly don't outweigh the downsides as far as Westerners are concerned, but you can't say there are NO pros here.
      Same logic as saying there's NO pro to invading a weak nation. Sure there is: it props up your economy due to all the wartime spending. Doesn't make it right, but there are pros there. Why do you think Hitler still commanded respect in Germany long after he was dead? He wasn't ALL bad, just really bad.
      • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6thanks for not being a moron
      • ilikechaitea, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2agreed...though the Hitler comment is a bit riske......couldn't you have chosen another megalomaniac disctator...
        "Stalin wasn't ALL bad, just really bad", or "Bush wasn't ALL bad, just really bad".......
    • darkamster07, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2agree, no matter what dangers arise, it's all worth it for a free internet
    • jzh1554, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Reducing your countries spam content by 131% could be considered a pro, however, how does one reduce something below 0%? Do they have negative spam?
    • JCPahl, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Well, it helps keep people under the thumb of a totalitarian regime. Could be a pro if you're a dictator.
  • Jo9100, on 05/14/2008, -2/+14http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/
    • mrrx, on 05/14/2008, -2/+11And clicking the link resulted in -

      "Because of the ever stricter measures of censorship China imposes on the Internet, the team of www.greatfirewallofchina.org at present can no longer vouch for the reliability of its test tool. We have therefore decided to take the test tool offline.

      Please visit our FAQ page for the latest news about China and the Internet, and more...

      Thanks for all your comments and overwhelming support over the past year! Let us persist in our dialogue with China and hope that the Games will lead to more openness! "
    • Evi1d33d, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1And it doesn't work if you are trying to access it in China.
  • ObamaWins08, on 05/14/2008, -11/+11Wow. The US is responsible for 42%of all spam. Sorry about that, y'all.
    • RevJonathan, on 05/14/2008, -2/+14I imagine that China would be accounting for a hell of a lot more than the US if it weren't for the censors.

      I'd rather produce a lot of penis enlargement ads and be able to complain about the government than not.
    • KMartSheriff, on 05/15/2008, -0/+8If the US is responsibly for all that spam then how come I'm getting 'GREETINGS MY FELLOW BROTHER IN CHRIST" from danjuma in Nigeria every 5 seconds?
    • betona, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1My server-side spam filter checks IP addresses to trace and block spam, and by far most of it comes from other countries, China included.
  • akphidelt, on 05/14/2008, -0/+10Some of those kids in slide six look like they're about to get beat by that crazy ass looking lady!
    • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2FTR: Slide 6 is has nothing to do with blogs and *****. The kids are obviously playing CS at a net cafe which is illegal under certain conditions. It's a school truancy issue, not a censorship issue.
    • Synapse84, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I'd hit it.
    • antonycao, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Yeah, the law says kids under 18 cannot go to an Internet cafe without accompany of an adult. It makes perfect sense in a lot of ways considering porno and violent materials available online.
  • thatsbologna, on 05/14/2008, -5/+10I....PUT THE SCREW....IN THE TUNA
  • nascarnate326, on 05/14/2008, -9/+15Hmm China has very little porn, yet very few fat people. USA has alot of fat people, and lots of porn. Too bad they are commies...
    • vkorobkax, on 05/14/2008, -1/+9Untrue. About one fifth of the one billion overweight or obese people in the world are Chinese. There are a hell of a lot of fat people in China.
      • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2Errr... have you heard that China has the world's biggest population? Of course they'd have a huge number of fatties. The point is that Chinese people don't eat ***** fried in more *****.
        • Alexandru25, on 05/15/2008, -3/+3Chinese food is ***** fried in more *****...
          • Dotdotdot, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5Not real Chinese food, only Americanized crap.
      • antonycao, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Their obese people are considered in fairly good shape in the US.
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -1/+4China has just as much porn and 1000% more whorehouses.
      In China it's illegal to make porn (though people do anyway.) You can buy Japanese and Korean hardcore ***** next to any train station.
      • crossmr, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5There really isn't all that much korean "hardcore *****" made. As far as I can tell they can't show genitals in Korean porn (or don't). One second its a guy munching through the panties, next they're doing it and you saw nothing in between.
        or so a friend told me..
        • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4Mea culpa. Japanese hardcore, Korean softcore.
    • darkamster07, on 05/15/2008, -3/+4"Too bad they are commies..."

      only they're not
      • JCPahl, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1Psst - that means 'communist.' So yes they are.
  • greenblob, on 05/14/2008, -2/+13http://youtube.com/watch?v=YLWik2URcjI&feature=Pla ...
    • oojamaflip2006, on 05/14/2008, -1/+7I reccommend you all watch that video instead of digging it down.
    • amida, on 05/14/2008, -0/+7It's not a Rick Roll, it's from a documentary about the "Tank Man" who stood in front of the tanks advancing on Tiananmen Square in 1989. It starts, depressingly, with some students looking at a picture and not recognizing it.
    • kitsua, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Thanks for that. I remember watching it on the BBC when it was made. Excellent stuff.
    • Dustmuffins, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2The beginning of that video makes me sick.
  • Ford_Prefect2nd, on 05/14/2008, -11/+6I so enjoy how how Americans assume that everyone that reads their articles will indubitably be American also. Slide 1 already inaccurate (at least in referance to me, which is the title so.... Hmm, that was unfair, MANY Americans believe this. To the rest, thanks.
    • synaesthesia, on 05/14/2008, -5/+8Thats because your ***** country doesn't matter.
    • Amiga500, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1Fix Or Repair Daily?
  • iDoraemon, on 05/14/2008, -1/+11The thing with internet access in China though is that even though it's possible to bypass imposed censorship using proxies, the internet is already slow as it is over there. By using proxies to bypass various restrictions by the government, it's true that one can eventually gain access to once-blocked sites. On the other hand, your typical Chinese citizen will be able to access non-censored, government-approved competing media much faster. Along with that, the people there also have access to freely-available newspapers and magazines with no problems. If a regular person in China had the choice of getting quick access to already available media or wait quite some time to access alternative material using proxies, the former always wins.

    The Chinese government knows this quite well, and they're able to achieve pretty much unfettered success in the country without pissing off the general populace. The real problem with internet in China isn't the reality with censorship. It's that illusion by the Chinese that there isn't really much censorship or that the censorship is a good thing.
    • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2Not many people in China know how the internet works, just like how a number of middle aged people in the West don't know how it works. However, most users of a certain level of knowledge know that its censored.

      I think you could say the same thing about the Western view on China. They don't know what's censored but just assume it's everything. It's a bit ironic that we grade their censorship on sites the West take for granted, but the Chinese would never view anyway - because they can't read English.
  • invinciblechunk, on 05/14/2008, -3/+28So, does 42% of spam originate in the U.S.? Or does 42% of spam originate from U.S. IP addresses, most of which were compromised by foreign botnets? Or is the figure just made up entirely?
    • Jan33, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1look buddy them tubes is 42% full its that simple because thats what you get its like an amusement park would you just pay attention please? 42% ! OK?! 42 !
      (snicker)
  • djdingo, on 05/14/2008, -5/+3I think China's on to something, they should do that here too! Internet porn is SO overrated!

    /sarcasm
  • EASwanson, on 05/14/2008, -5/+123I
    Hate
    Websites
    That
    Make
    You
    Click
    Multiple
    Buttons
    To
    Get
    The
    Full
    Story
    • Awspire, on 05/14/2008, -2/+15Meh, its just a slideshow, in fact it was rather well implemented. I hate sites that have you go from link to link just so their ads will refresh every 100 words.
      • OmniShinzui, on 05/14/2008, -1/+4But in fact, the ads did change after the click of each slide.

        Then I remembered I don't see ads since Adblock+Firefox = win.
      • synyster, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1well implemented! not way, have you not hear Ajax before
    • choopie911, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2I agree with both of you. I hate having to click through, but at least it was well done.
  • AutumnWindz, on 05/14/2008, -4/+45Buried for being intentionally misleading and largely devoid of actual content.
    One picture, for example, is especially apparent: the one showing some people sitting in front of a row of computers with a cop behind them is not, as the caption would have you believe, a picture of people working to censor the internet. It is a bunch of middle schoolers getting busted for being in an internet cafe (notice the Counterstrike on one of the screens) illegally - the age for this is 18 in China and there were many large campaigns to keep kids out of internet cafes, which can be quite a bad place to be in China.
    • taradisiac, on 05/14/2008, -9/+5lol you're actually whining because what's happening in the picture is a lot worse than what the caption said?
    • zeptobyte, on 05/14/2008, -0/+13Interesting. That would explain why they all look like they're depressed and about to cry.
    • Nuhaus, on 05/14/2008, -0/+3Yeah, they're hiding their faces from the camera so their families won't know it's them when the pictures are published. Too bad they'll find out when they see the whip lashes after they get home.
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4It's true. Kids should NOT be in Chinese internet cafes for the same reason kids shouldn't be allowed in bars. The only difference is there's a far greater chance you'll be robbed, molested or killed in a netcafe.
      • Relikh, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Try actually going to one before you make yourself sound like an idiot like that.
        • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2I've been to several. Most of them are pretty creepy.
  • mrogi, on 05/14/2008, -6/+2If always takes 15 minutes to log on to the Chinese Internet. No matter how long you surf the Chinese Internet, you get hungry for more after one hour. I'm here all week, folks. Try the veal.
    • KayIslandDrunk, on 05/14/2008, -0/+6I don't understand your question.
      • pault107, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1I don't think it was a question. Actually, I'm not sure what it was.
      • itsgotyou, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Allow me to rephrase: The Chinese log if takes always on to the 15 mInutes. No Chinese Internet get you long for more after one surf the matter. Folks are hungry for veal to try all week.
  • michael43, on 05/14/2008, -14/+13On the Chinese porn sites, all the girls vagina's are sideways and the wider they spread their legs, the tighter it gets.
    • desqjockey, on 05/15/2008, -1/+6wow, thats some retro racism there
      • michael43, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1Oh ***** you, get a sense of humor. I happen to married to a Chinese so quit being such a chicken ***** and tell a joke now and then. If you can't laugh at racism it will just get worse.
  • jjpertusch, on 05/14/2008, -1/+11less spam, more safety, based on IPv6... well, at least the list ended on some high notes.
  • egthareal, on 05/14/2008, -2/+11I just got back from China literally a day or two ago and I must agree that there isn't that much censorship as there is forced slow access. Which is almost worse. It's like well I wanted to visit this site twenty minutes ago but I'm sure I can find a quicker substitute out here.
  • ConquistadorFor, on 05/14/2008, -15/+7lol
    who cares if its different
    each culture is different
    • fakekevinrose, on 05/14/2008, -4/+4In my culture, we bury people for saying who cares
  • efitz11, on 05/14/2008, -2/+14where is the "bury as slideshow" option?
  • daxsymbiont, on 05/14/2008, -9/+16..while americans live under big brotherish media, have elected bush twice and still start wars all over the world.
    • zeptobyte, on 05/14/2008, -5/+4start wars all over the world to share our good life*

      :D
    • bagelmaster, on 05/14/2008, -7/+5Last time I checked, we aren't a big brother society. Yet, anyway.
    • PleaseJustDie, on 05/14/2008, -3/+5That's because stupid people breed more in the US.
      • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1Smart people are too busy making money. Dumb people are busy being republican and making babies.
  • taradisiac, on 05/14/2008, -15/+6Chinese people don't care, as long as they have a roof and a house and a false sense of security. They're like little cats, all they care about is living on. They don't have higher aspirations about freedom and knowledge like us.
    • soccerbud, on 05/14/2008, -1/+2when you don't know when your next meal (or any other basic amenities) is coming from
      freedom and knowledge is the last thing on your mind
      • taradisiac, on 05/14/2008, -1/+0No, not really. Some of us care about more than just staying alive.
    • Sroek, on 05/14/2008, -1/+3You'd be a perfect citizen there.
    • tian2992, on 05/14/2008, -0/+1You mean like us (people who think), because last time i checked, there was a unconstitutional, and illegal war; treason to the constitution, and massive disinformation campaign led by the media, among USA…

  • chrisdancy, on 05/14/2008, -1/+3311. It's in chinese
  • synaesthesia, on 05/14/2008, -4/+3The only plus to the PROC Government blocking/censoring internet access and restricting information is that it keeps the population from finding out negative information about their government and thus keeps dissent at relatively low levels--for the government, that is a plus. However, even this has a large downside; when unavoidable disasters such as the recent earthquake occur, the citizens who didnt really mind censorship before start looking for answers ("why did this happen?") and finding them in conspiracy theories. If distrust of government is so rampant in US society (where the government is comparatively transparent) then in a situation like this it will undoubtedly flourish. Distrust of government undermines the power of those behind censorship and thus it is in everyone's best interest to have a free and open society.
    • soccerbud, on 05/14/2008, -0/+2the Chinese netizens read bbc, cnn, and other foreign media fairly regularly.
      And they translate the articles for those who don't understand foreign languages well
  • mrb4b00, on 05/14/2008, -3/+15Going to China for a month or two every year, I find that all these censorship is way overhyped. In reality, 99% of the sites you access in America is accessible in China.
    Also, the culture and language there is so much different there that there is little point to go to Western sites.
    The real problem is the slowness of their internet, I could barely download my mp3s at 10kbs over DSL there...
    • kryptobs2000, on 05/14/2008, -3/+5Why would there be little reason to go to western sites?
      • Alexandru25, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6Cuz they are in a different alphabet that they can't read. How often do you check out Russian sites?
      • synyster, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3cos most of the people don't know english
        • Amiga500, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2That's not true. A good many speak at least some English.
          • Alexandru25, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I speak/read some German, enough to get around Germany but I don't feel like taking half a hour to read German news when I can read it in English.
    • koreth, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3It's pretty much the same with every Digg article about Chinese Internet censorship. The vast majority of people moaning about it have never even been to China and are passing judgment on their own assumptions rather than on the reality.
      • Amiga500, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1But it does cause problems, even for those not in China. I have several Chinese language partners. They wanted to see my photos posted on Flickr, but they can't since the two servers Flickr uses to host the pictures were blocked.

        Yes, some Chinese users of Flickr found a way around this using Firefox and a specialy made plugin designed to get around this particular block, but I ended up having to re-upload my pictures elsewhere so people in China could see them.

        Strike two was MSN Skydrive, which I was using to upload several MP3 lessons for users to download. Ooops, now Skydrive is also blocked in China.

        Lots of people are like YOU, who regardless of where they have lived have never tried to do anything useful, thus you have no problems.
    • sqhihi, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2The internet speed depends on which ISP you use.
      I can easily get on Youtube, but CNN's webside is hard to open. And I have an average download speed of around 1.5MByte/s.
  • MeltingIce, on 05/14/2008, -0/+7"IPv6 is an upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol that features enough IP addresses for the Chinese population."

    That made me laugh considering the fact that IPv6 supports up to about 3.4*10^38 addresses which is about 5*10^28 addresses per person on the entire planet (thanks Wikipedia).
    • NonLeftistDiggr, on 05/14/2008, -0/+2I can't remember the figure exactly, but it's several hundred or several thousand IP addresses per square meter on earth.
      • pault107, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1That confuses me., those units don't mix. What's the 'area' of a single IP address?
  • falafelkiosken, on 05/14/2008, -0/+4#5 reminds me of my old school
  • evilbob333, on 05/14/2008, -0/+8So was the little porn thing a pro or a con?
    • bagelmaster, on 05/14/2008, -0/+5Think they're trying to pass it as a pro but I see it as a con
    • ericisroot, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2Men see it as a con but the women see it as a pro.
  • bonjourmr, on 05/14/2008, -1/+2Its kind of scary in a way. I hope and assume that it won't spread to the western world, but this strong control of how the population communicates scares the ***** out of me. ***** internet censorship!
  • NonLeftistDiggr, on 05/14/2008, -0/+5As long as we have companies in the US willing to help their government sensor the internet just to get the added business, I have a hard time villifying them for it. On the other hand it's fked up the informationt they get if they search Tianemen Square.
  • buddypriefert, on 05/14/2008, -5/+1I wonder how all the whiners about how "bad we have it in the USA" feel about this article. And here, people whine about the 1 and 1 billion chance of getting wiretapped (yeah, big deal, listen in on all my conversations, who cares).
    • Hangly, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Your chance of being actually listened in on is far FAR greater in the US.
      • buddypriefert, on 05/15/2008, -0/+0Really? Proof/facts to back up your claim please. Any source will do (except Rossie O'Donnell, Michael Moore, or other nuthouses etc.)
  • Kenzan, on 05/14/2008, -4/+3Because if you cannot control information coming into the country and thus the education of the populace, you can't create a 1% uber-wealthy Chinese ruling class now can you?

    China: No No! We are protecting our citizens from the evils of Western moral corruption!
    The Rest of the World: We see what you did there.
    • Kenzan, on 05/15/2008, -3/+1You see? The Chinese are digging me down.
      Free Tibet you BASTARDS!
  • Leetamus, on 05/14/2008, -0/+11hmm is is just me or is there just 10 random pictures? I can look at pics of pandas with laptops from here in Canada too! What the ***** is this?
  • gtapro92, on 05/14/2008, -1/+6I love America
    • nickcommie, on 05/14/2008, -4/+3Yes, because Canada, Europe, Australia, etc. don't have uncensored internet, too. Only the US!!!!11 Dolt.
  • wurk4fude, on 05/14/2008, -0/+5"Online pornography is not as pervasive in China, and users are less likely to stumble upon it." but it's sure easy to stumble across in the street of Beijing or Shanghai. it's literally in your face as you walk by.
  • DarkoKun, on 05/14/2008, -0/+5Less pron? Then im sorry but that's not the internet.
  • wedges, on 05/14/2008, -0/+2some of those things are awesome, but not awesome enough to give up the last freedom we have.
  • sqhihi, on 05/14/2008, -1/+6i'm from China and i don't quite get it. i read some american articles about internet censorship of China, but in my university, among people i know, there's barely any discussion about it. i can visit myspace, youtube, wikipedia and many other foreign websites, few time i feel i'm blocked and people here spent most of the time visiting Chinese websites which are quicker and easier to read. i rarely got porn-spams and the ones that i got...all in English. maybe most people bothered by the censorship are not Chinese.
    • walugi, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2well said
    • xellliu, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1well, I'm IN china and I'd like to say that I DO quite get it. For example, I don't think that there is any conventional means to access wiki in the mainland of China...HTTP, HTTPS and, sometimes, IPV6 to wiki are all blocked by gov. Ironically, the famous "Tibet was, is and always will be a part of china" in Youtube is still out of our native sights now...
  • mrwalsh, on 05/14/2008, -0/+11Really, this is overblown. I've lived in the US and now in China and it's no different. If I want to talk about something like the IS NO religion I just go ahead and post about NO GOD NEED TO TALK ABOUT NOT NEEDED like any other citizen in any other country. What's the big deal? Believe me I've posted some stuff about some of China's politicians like NONE that would have been censored if things were as bad as is perceived. Like the scandal surrounding FAULT OF BUSH. Or the NOT CHINA INVOLVED OTHER COUNTRY CAUSED coverup. Or the situation in Tibet WHERE ALL THINGS NOW OK. I even have a website where you can read more about CHINA IS WORLD FUTURE at http://CHINA.COM. I mean, THERE ARE NO problems in China but internet access is not one of them.
  • ribo, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Pandas? In MY Internets?

    It's more likely than you think.
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