The bureaucrats are continuing their clampdown on the Internet in China to kill any unwanted postings. The trend is not new and I always said the country is trying desperately to close down the media since several years. They must be scared like hell as many citizens do not take the injustices anymore. Corruption and bad governance are the cancers in today’s China. By killing – or trying to – the Internet, they can only make it worse. The Internet is also a business tool. Once more, the Chinese bureaucrats shoot themselves in the foot and fail to address the real problems for their citizens. What they don’t realize is that many Chinese get fed up and find new ways around the restrictions.
Since day one I said I would never base my server here in China and never register. That was and is the right decision.
See here a comment from the SCMP
New internet curbs a step in wrong direction
article (part) by LEADER on Dec 16, 2009 – SCMP
The internet is a boundless frontier of business, education and recreation opportunities. The central government has curtailed those benefits by seeing it as a threat. The decision this week to stop individuals from having their own websites damagingly restricts possibilities. Not only are users’ ideas and opinions further censored, but an important outlet for entrepreneurial skills has been shut off.
Only businesspeople and government-authorised organisations can now register new domain names. Individually owned websites are steadily becoming inaccessible. Authorities say the measure is to curb pornography and copyright infringement. It is more likely yet another step to silence perceived dissent. Unwittingly, users are also put at an increased disadvantage to their counterparts elsewhere.
Most of the world’s websites have been established and are operated by individuals. Many are for pleasure and convenience; through them there is communication with relatives and friends and a sharing of images and thoughts. But a good number are also for livelihoods and to supplement incomes. Careers and businesses grow from them – opportunities that would otherwise have been limited or non-existent.