Photo: AFP
Posted on 06/13/2005 5:23:55 AM PDT by LwinAungSoe
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BEIJING (AFP) - Users of Microsoft's new China-based Internet portal were blocked from using the words "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights" in an apparent move by the US software giant to appease Beijing.
Other words that could not be used on Microsoft's free online blog service MSN Spaces include "Taiwan independence" and "demonstration".
Bloggers who enter such words or other politically charged or pornographic content are prompted with a message that reads: "This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item".
Officials at Microsoft's Beijing offices refused to comment Monday.
Internet sites in China are strongly urged to abide by a code of conduct and self-censor any information that could be viewed by the government as politically sensitive, pornographic or illegal.
For many Chinese websites, such content also includes news stories that the government considers unfavorable or does not want published.
New regulations issued in March now require that all China-based websites be formally registered with the government by the end of June or be shut down by Internet police.
Microsoft formed a joint venture with China's state-funded Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd (SAIL) last month to launch the MSN China web portal.
Microsoft is not the only international tech company to comply with China's stringent Internet rules.
Yahoo! and Google -- the two most popular Internet search engines -- have already been criticized for cooperating with the Chinese government to censor the Internet.
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) earlier said it "deplores the irresponsible policies of United States Internet firms Yahoo! and Google in bowing directly and indirectly to Chinese government demands for censorship".
An RSF spokesman said Monday the group was checking to see if Microsoft had followed suit.
"We are checking into this. If it is correct, it proves once again that US companies are actively collaborating with the Chinese government's censorship efforts," the spokesman told AFP.
"We strongly condemn that."
They already DO exist.
Chinese websurfers know ALL ABOUT using Proxy servers
Good searchers can get around this and find secondary words.
Leetspeak (l33t5p34k) might work.
> Is money more important than democracy, freedom and human rights?
We'll see...they indicate they will follow up: "An RSF spokesman said Monday the group was checking to see if Microsoft had followed suit." It's still quarter to six in Redmond...too early to wake up Mr. Bill.
Microsoft deserves a swift kick in the ass.
I forsee a revolution in China in the next 20 years whether the ChiComs like it or not.
Meanwhile, China remains the primary source in the world for pirated software.
Why are you shouting? Censorship and its circumvention is an ever evolving sport.
Sick
I see a Chinese version of spanglish. Changlish . . .
This brings more media into the closed nation, and the work arounds for the list of “banned words” will certainly become a big joke on the Chinese Communist Party.
Companies don't exist to promote a political agenda, they exist to make money for their shareholders. If the people of China want freedom and democracy, then they need to demand it from their government. Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google are not going to do it unless there is a profit in it.
Then you’ve been wrong for a while. China has recently tripled their military capabilities and gone from 1% to 3% of what they need to take Taiwan. They don’t have a person in uniform with the military experience of the average USMC corporal. China is way more dependent on the US/Japan/Taiwan than we are on them, and their oil lifeline is vulnerable.
The New World Order = A global system of governance in which markets are free and people are not.
Ever since the days of Mao, the Chinese Communist authorities have given people two choices: My way or the highway. You either do what they say or leave, with all your prior investments expropriated.
Maybe this is just sheer greed. Or maybe Microsoft figures that half a loaf is better for Chinese internet users than none. There are ways to get around these limitations, and meantime Chinese users have more access to the internet.
For instance, instead of "freedom," they could use the code words "pigs fly." The censors are always a step behind the censored.
Washington liberals are still looking for an English speaking country to test their broad-based radio "Fairness Doctrine" as well as a narrow (one cable channel only) TV version of the "Fairness Doctrine." Canada is the odds-on choice to be the one.
I don't expect businesses to do something that puts them out of business, i.e. unprofitable. It's my job to be a good citizen, not Microsoft's.
I wonder how much microsoft censors about themselves.
The problem is not the portal companies, it is the government. The portals, regardless of restrictions, promote the ideas and attitudes that will eventually solve the problem, in Viet Nam, at least. The availability of a portal enables several folks I know to operate businesses that deal with the West. They actually make good money doing it, even though their money has to stay outside the country. One fellow has a brokerage business that deals with exotic woods furniture made in Thailand and Indonesia and customers all over the world. He is even arranging some importation to Viet Nam. Another constructs websites for international companies, mostly in Europe. One woman sells shrimp from independent shrimp farms on the net. They could not do this without that portal. You don't deal constructively with the restrictions by cutting people off altogether. The increasing use of the net for business of all kinds, official as well as not so official makes the net harder and harder for the government to do without and harder and harder to effectively deal with unapproved content.
I suspect the Chicom effort will have little practical effect as the users learn to get around the restrictions. I do not talk about democracy, etc. by name in my emails, but just casual conversation about what people do and don't do normally, about travel and family, about whether or not one chooses to vote for something, conveys the information.
"China is way more dependent on the US/Japan/Taiwan than we are on them, and their oil lifeline is vulnerable."
I disagree. Have you been reading about the active hate campaign in China directed towards the Japanese? It is more or less officially endorsed. The Japanese are beefing up their defenses because of this hate campaign. This is in additon to the sabre rattling going on about Taiwan.
China's army is not well equipped or well trained at this date. But, they are building, and they have 3 BILLION people. The Chinese could put together an army of staggering size. The ability to tolerate losses would somewhat offset training. Also, the Chinese are not stupid, don't underestimate them. It's not like they can't or won't learn.
I'm not well versed on China's refinery capacity or their oil reserves. But, Saudi is building refineries since the US can't, (thank you EPA). I don't believe the Arabs would have a problem selling oil at a deep discount to a country that was in conflict with the "Great Satan" (US).
Keep the mental wheels turning, we’ll see.
And I do think that it is better that American companies, even the hated Microsoft, step in now to make the money than that the Chinese come up with their own and cut the American companies out. That would be much more restrictive and longer lasting.
"It's my job to be a good citizen, not Microsoft's."
And there is the schism. At what point does a company quit being people? At what point does a company no longer need to pay attention to human values? At the point of incorporation?
Does this mean for the 8, 10, 12 hours a day you work, you are not a citizen, you are a profit seeker? Do you make decisions differently at work? If you do things that are anti-American, or counter to your religious beliefs, is that ok since it's for the company?
Is ANYone surprised that Microsoft would participate in this?
ANYONE?
That's "Chinglish," and it already exists; have you taken an Engineering course lately?
Too many are "taught" in a damn near incomprehensible dialect that Wm. Shakespeare would never recognize.
> I figure Taiwan has about 3 years left.
If Hillary Rodham is elected president, make that 3 years and six months.
The party to blame here is the Chinese government for denying access to this information. These companies are not in the "Democracy spreading" business, but want to continue to do business in China. They obviously felt this necessary to keep this lucrative market.
Would you rather seê MAOsoft in China with absolute control of content and that money staying in China instead of supporting an American company?
I took a heat transfer class in 1982 with a Chinese professor who couldn't pronounce "heat." He pronounced it like the word for "feces." It was pretty funny. We all had a hard time keeping straight faces.
Candi
p.s. Boy, do I feel old. I took heat transfer 23 years ago????? How can that be when I'm only 29???
"Chinglish" . . . thats even funnier . . .
Yes. Bringing liberal/leftist American media is a great idea.
More MSNBC garbage will help China immensely.
I assume you watch and love MSNBC, NBC news and all the liberal mainstream media and swear by them as being at the forefront of liberty and fight for freedom.
"But, they are building, and they have 3 BILLION people. "
no, closer to 1.3 billion.
"The Chinese could put together an army of staggering size."
What would it eat? They have lousy logistics and transportation.
I assume you’re drunk.
You think China will invade during the Olympics in Beijing, huh?
Interesting.
The US will NOT get involved.
We are obligated to by law, as President Bush just reiterated the other day.
I appreciate that view Pete but it seems these companies are pretty much rolling over (bending over?) for the communist governments. There may be a fine line between information-based subversion and collaboration/enablement, but what side of the line does censoring the phrase "human rights" fall under? Could that be any more blatant?
Part of that is being good corporate citizens. Why do you think companies give to charity? Why do you think soda companies bottle water to give to people after disasters? Why do you think Starbucks helps small 3rd world coffee growers?
Yes, make snide comments when your lack of logical or coherent thinking is pointed out.
Perhaps there is a coherency there after all.
If you can’t recognize the “snide comments and lack of logical or coherent thinking” in your first post, you’re either drunk or a moron. Either way, don’t talk to me.
I agree, but with the realization that good PR is good for profits.
Rolling over may well be a phrase that suits the situation. It is far better for the folks that use these services for there to be some such service available. There is no negative to it. A little bit of exposure to Western ideas and realities is far superior to NO such exposure.And the restrictions are avoidable- defeatable and will be avoided and defeated. In Sai Gon I had demonstrated to me why the government restrictions were not even particularly inconvenient. That is the nature of the medium and the nature of the people who use it. It is a "foot in the door"; the camel's nose is in the tent. All the restrictions in the world will not stop the flow of information so long as the net is accessible.
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