CRF 2006, No.2 - Technology and Human Rights

News Roundup: March – early May 2006


Crossing the Information Highway

• A Conversation with Citizen Lab
  Sharon Hom interviews Ron Deibert and Nart Villeneuve on their work battling Internet censorship.
   
• Why Yahoo is the Enemy of Freedom
  Wang Yi excoriates foreign complicity in the suppression of free expression in China.
   
• Building a Global Blogging Community
  Rebecca MacKinnon describes global efforts to promote and support free expression on China’s Internet.
   
• Firewall
  A poem by A.E. Clark.
   
• Addressing Hard Questions:Technology in the Service of Human Rights
  Patrick Ball and Ann Harrison introduce sophisticated methods to assess human rights threats in closed societies.
   
• First Appeal to the Heart: A Pre-Internet Memoir
  Wei Liu recalls the influence of a more traditional technology.
   

Special Book Preview

• The Hijacked Potential of China’s Internet
  He Qinglian details the ways in which government controls have forced China to miss out on the full benefits of the Internet revolution.
   

Claiming Cyberspace

• Aegean Sea Makes Waves
  
  
  • It’s Time to Rein in China’s Internet Censors!
    Deng Yongliang calls for administrative reform to reduce Internet censorship.
     
  • Official Response:Why was Aegean Sea Closed Down?
    An unnamed official observes that even democratic countries find censorship necessary.
     
• A Dirty Double-Standard
  Chu Yichu finds himself besieged with pornography on China’s officially-sanctioned Web sites.
   
• Night Wolf in a Night Man’s Kingdom: The Story of Li Yuanlong
  Liu Li examines the case of a journalist trying to break through a soul-destroying existence.
   
• Letter from Guangzhou
  Arnold Zeitlin relates the frustrations of China’s journalism students.
   
• The People Desperately Need a Channel for Appeal
  CPPCC delegate Zhao Lihong finds his blog attracts an enthusiastic public response.
   
• Straight Talk from China’s Best and Brightest
  He Weifang, Li Luoli, Zhang Shuguang and other participants in a confidential think tank discussion find their pointed comments posted on the Internet.
   
• The Moment of Truth for Web Administrators
  Huang Tai calls for a united front against China’s censors.
   

Regular Features

• Off Topic: June 4th’s Long-Term Legacy
  Feng Congde interviews Han Dongfang about the lingering influence of Tiananmen.
   
• First Tiananmen, Then the World
  Hu Ping believes China’s intransigence regarding Tiananmen is increasingly reflected in its foreign policies.
   
• Cultural Reviews
  
  Empowering Local Voices and Building Virtual Communities
  Sharon Hom visits several multimedia exhibitions providing alternative views of China..
  
  The Coming Implosion
  Roger Garside reviews Minxin Pei’s China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy.
  
  Strength in Diversity
  Jennifer Walling and Tina Nguyen review Bernard Wong’s The Chinese in Silicon Valley: Globalization, Social Networks, and Ethnic Identity.
  
  A Second Kind of Optimism
  Sharon Hom interviews Guy Sorman about his new book, The Year of the Rooster: Chinese Rebellions.
  
  Open Forum: Another View of Mao: The Unknown Story
  Lois Wheeler Snow responds to a previous CRF review of the controversial Chang-Halliday book.
   
• Resource List
  Internet Web sites and other resources related to technology and human rights.
   
• In Custody
  Individuals executed or still in prison for crimes related to June 4th.
   
• Prisoner Profile
  Li Jianping
   
• Action: What you can do about the issues discussed
• Bulletin: HRIC's activities from February - May 2006
• Incorporating Responsibility 2008 Campaign: Security in Beijing 2008 and Beyond