My group's research during class on China's internet censorship sparked my curiosity. Although it does not seem to be tied to the subject of piracy and creativity, I will do my best to link the two together.
Firstly, though, a little background. According to an "Electronic Frontiers, Australia" website, China first started its censorship of internet access in September of 1996. At first it was only about 100 sites, censored for offensive material or Western news sites. In 2002, Associated Press ran an article covering the extent of internet censorship in China, and the results are serious. If you google "Tianamen Square" or try to find any sites that "hurt China's reputation", you will not find them. China's censorship is known by the nickname "The Great Firewall," a reference to their famous landmark, as well as the solidness of their internet blockage.
Chinese blogger Michael Anti has seen firsthand how this censorship can affect both bloggers and the audience they address. Several times, Anti's blog was removed, not by the Chinese government (although the Chinese ISPs still blocked his blog from being read by other people in China), but by MSN, according to an article by Rebecca MacKinnon on her blog.
Ironically, the only way to get around internet blockage is by illegal means. While it is not illegal to use a "proxy server" (an handy way of getting around the government's censorship) to access legal sites, it is illegal to use it to access sites like Youtube. That doesn't seem to be stopping many Chinese citizens, though. As a Chinese man was quoted in an article on Time's website, "It is like a water flow — if you block one direction, it flows to other directions, or overflows."
The great thing about living in the U.S. is our right to free speech, and our ability to access the internet freely. The Chinese government may have intended their censorship for good, blocking only porn sites in the first few weeks of business, but I believe that freedom of speech must be total or it is pretty much useless.
What are your thoughts on censorship? Would you expect it to increase or decrease internet piracy and illegal activities online?
I am in complete agreement with your last paragraph. Although there can be dangers with no censorship and complete freedom, it is necessary to make the law useful. I think censorship would increase illegal activities online because blocking sites is only going to make people want to use them more. Our right to free speech is one of the greatest things we have.
ReplyDeleteI think that degree of censorship should always be considered unacceptable regardless of its effects on piracy. Freedom of speech is a basic human rights concern and should always be considered of more importance than an economic one.
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