Re: China

[Alex Strasheim <cp@proust.suba.com>]

> However, that is not a reason for complacency. I think your warning is 
> timely, and discussion, perhaps even action, may be called for. If people 
> can mirror a web site so that Germans get access to it (an action I 
> entirely support) what is being done about the large numbers of 
> newsgroups that India and China have no access to? 

I recieved a few emails from people who tried to explain to me why the 
Chineese scheme isn't going to work.  I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm 
unconcered, but one point was sort of reassuring and probably ought to be 
brought out on the list.

The West isn't the Chineese government's main problem -- it's the 
Chineese people they have to worry about.  A firewall can't provide 
internal security -- all it can do, at best, is keep outsiders out.  Even 
assuming that they can pull that off -- and it's extremely unlikely that 
they can -- anything that lets Chineese people talk to each other and 
facilitates discussion is going to end up being far more subversive than 
any information we in the West can send into China.

(This point was made by Perry -- it probably lost something in the
translation.)

As for India and China -- what should be done?  We tend to focus on things
that are within our field of vision.  CompuServe is an American company,
and when they cut out usenet groups in response to events in Germany, it
brought that country to our attention.

I would like to think that privacy activists and civil libertarians in
other countries would find allies and support in the US and European
countries like Finland and the Netherlands.  (We here in the states may
begin leaning on Dutch servers soon if the recently passed decency act is
enforced.)  If you need space on a web server, nntp access, a show of
solidarity -- let us know, and we'll try to deliver what you need.