Computer gaming as a legitimate sport at the Olympic Games?
I’d like to see that.
I was interviewed yesterday on the Australian current affairs program, The Wire, about China’s policy of internet censorship during the Olympics, my forthcoming book, The Blogging Revolution and the tendency of Western media to demonise the Communist state: Read more »
Are you feeling that sweet Olympic spirit yet?
The Chinese authorities confirmed today that the 20,000 foreign journalists covering the Olympic Games will not have unrestricted access to the Internet during their stay. Kevin Gosper, the head of the IOC’s press commission, admitted today: “I also now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered games related.” Read more »
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China:
Western critics of Beijing should be careful what they wish for during the Games, writes Antony Loewenstein Read more »
Is the era of free internet access coming to an end?
The Great Firewall of China --- or the Golden Shield Project, to give it its official name ---- is intended to prevent, deter and detect anyone who reads, downloads or publishing reports deemed to challenge the government's hold on power. Many of the banned websites, words and phrases are related to the government's so-called "five big enemies" or no-gone zones: Tibetan independence, Taiwan independence, China's Muslims in the western province of Xinjiang, the Falun Gong movement and dissidents. Read more »
Will communications technology (mainly, the internet and mobile devices) combined with capitalism inevitably make everybody in the world more free?
(Hint: no.)
Internet censorship is utterly normal in “repressive” regimes the world over. But welcome to the new reality in the “free” West:
Internet service provider Embarq eavesdropped on the web surfing habits of 26,000 customers in Kansas without notifying them personally, as part of its test of new, controversial advertising technology that profiles users. Read more »
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