October 2008 Archives

1. Title Page

China's Second Great Wall

Steve Shenfield

English 202, Section 32

October 24, 2008

2. Abstract -

3.  Introduction -

For ten years, servers and networks in the People's Republic of China have been giving internet access to all citizens in China.  Whether they browse the web at home or at a local net cafe, this digital technology allows the viewing and reading of countless numbers of web-pages.  But this life changing technology has a certain twist or secret in this part of the world.  China's internet sits behind a huge firewall, which is able to block out specific internet sites from being viewed by Chinese people. 

What are the reasons why the Chinese government has placed this censorship over its' people? How do the Chinese feel about this blocking of internet sites?  Would it be possible that this censorship will be less harsh in the future or even removed?  In the following pages, I will answer these questions and more, exploring the birth of this "great firewall", the technologies it uses, why it was created, and how it affects the people living in China.

4.  Fieldwork Statement -

          For my fieldwork I intend to experience what its like to browse the internet as if I

myself were in China.  To do this, I will use an addon for Modzilla Firefox located at

<http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/10/experience-the-censored-chinese-internet-at-

home/>.  This piece of software allows anyone with Modzilla Firefox to tap into a proxy

and obtain an ip address in mainland China.  The addon above will let me explore and

experience what its like to be actually using China's censored internet.  I plan on listing

twenty sites of interest that I believe could be blocked by China's government.  What

happens when I access a site they may be blocked?  What sort of errors messages do

I receive? Is there anything unusual I experience while surfing in China?  After visiting

twenty sites, I intend to review my results and interpret them.

5. Review of Types of Sources / Conversations -

My current selection of sources includes wikipedias, two research studies done on China's censorship, a news and magazine article, and several interviews.  The interviews with actually citizens living in China should provide me with excellent information about how the Chinese people are reacting to an online firewall.  The research documents will allow me to give detail descriptions on statistics surrounding China's "Global Shield".  The Wikipedia entries I found will allow me to explain background information on China's firewall, how and why it was created over ten years ago.

6.  Working Bibliography -

Clayton, Richard. "Ignoring the Great Firewall of China". Online posting. June 2006.

             Blue Light Touchpaper. October 19, 2008

             <http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2006/06/27/ignoring-the-great-firewall-

               of-china/>.

French, Howard W. "Great Firewall of China Faces Online Rebels." The New York Times.

            4 Feb 2008: 2. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/world/asia/

            04china.html>.

Elgin, Ben, and Einhorn, Bruce. "The Great Firewall of China." BusinessWeek.

             12 Jan 2006. <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2006/

              tc20060112_434051.htm>.

"Digital Divide in China." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. July 25, 2008.

            Wikimedia Foundation Inc. October 19, 2008.

           <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide_in_the_People%27s_

             Republic_of_China>.

"Golden Shield Project." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. October 2008.

            Wikimedia Foundation Inc. October 19, 2008.

            <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Shield_Project>.

"Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China." Wikipedia, the free

             encyclopedia. October 11, 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. October 19,

             2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_mainland

            _China>.

"Internet in the People's Republic of China." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

            September 11, 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. October 19, 2008.

            <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of

             _China>.

Walton, Greg. China's Golden Shield: Corporations and the Development of Surveillance

           Technology in the People's Republic of China. Canada. International Centre for

           Human Rights and Democratic Development, 2001.

           <http://www.ichrdd.ca/english/commdoc/publications/globalization/

           goldenShieldEng.html>.

Edelman, Benjamin, and Zittrain, Jonathan. Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in

           China. Harvard Law School, 2005. <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/

           china/>.

Fallows, James. Interview. China Cuts Off Access to Western News Sites.

           By Susan Stamberg. NPR. March 22, 2008.

           <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88827006>

Haselton, Bennett. Interview. Getting Past China's Government Firewall. By Steve

            Inskeep. NPR. February 16, 2006.

            <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5219008>

Sydell, Laura. "How do Chinese Citizens Feel About Censorship?" NPR. July 12, 2008.

           <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92489122>

China's Second Great Wall

• Chinese citizens
• The Chinese government
• Technology enthusiasts
• Professionals in the tech field
• Internet users from U.S./Europe

1. What approaches to the conversations I have chosen, will allow me to expose readers to an unfamiliar or overlooked dimension of my digital topic?

-   

2. What approaches to the conversations I have chosen, will allow me to act as an interpreter or inquirer?

-  I would like to research the history behind China's placement of their online firewall.  How did it come about?  What technology is used to block sites in the entire country of China?  How do the citizens of China feel about their restriction on the internet?  Has the Chinese government ever commented on why they have implemented a firewall?  How do internet users from various countries feel about China's firewall?

3. How can one could tap into these conversations? (Is it represented in journals, in the media? Will it require interviews, observation, a survey?)

websites, blogs, online forums, articles(news)

4. Complete these questions:

Should the Chinese people bring their disagrements to the government and have their

firewall abolished?

4. Based on the list above, choose or revise a single question that seems most promising?

China's "Golden Shield" project was introduced ten years ago to monitor internet connections over all of the citizens in China.  What is the history behind this firewall and what technologies are involved to make it work? How do the Chinese people feel about this blockade?  Are Chinese people's rights violated?  What are some reasons the Chinese government has implemented this firewall?  Is it possible, in the future, that this censorship will be lessoned or even removed due to other countries perception of China? 

(A promising question is specific and researchable; it should require an extended answer; it should be a 'real' question in the sense that you and your readers will care about the answer.This is still a working question, so you can change or revise it later!)

1.  Possible reasons why China's has a firewall in place over its internet connections for its people

2.  Exploring the social, political, economics behind China's "Great Firewall of China".  The interest group I am most interested in is with the citizens.  Does this censorship have a profound impact on their lives.