China Is Turning Its ISPs Into Internet Police
December 31st, 2012Via: ExtremeTech:
Scary new legislation that was recently approved will effectively turn China’s ISPs into the internet police. Now, ISPs will be forced to delete content deemed illegal and file a report with the government.
This troubling legislation requires individuals to register with ISPs using their real name and contact information — even a copy of their passports or IDs. While the Chinese government bills this as safeguarding “national security and public interests,” the power this grants the PRC leadership is worrisome. Not only will ISPs need to silence illegal content such as political dissent, but this also ties real-world information to that content. If internet users in mainland China start posting about Tiananmen Square or the freedom of Tibet, the Chinese government will be able to find them and punish them more easily while quickly silencing their message with compliant ISPs.
Even worse, the communist government is making it even harder to get around the Great Firewall of China by blocking VPN access.
