Wednesday, April 16, 2003
The International Broadcasting Bureau is working on software to help Chinese surfers throw off the yoke of their government's censorship (read more about it here). Basically, the Chinese government has a firewall in place to block access to many news organizations and political sites on the web. The IBB hopes to set up software to allow the Chinese citizens to circumvent the political constraints placed on them by their government. Aside from the fact that this software could be used by anyone to get past firewalls (i.e. your average worker whose company blocks entertainment sites, or the teenager trying to outsmart his parent's controls) I don't see this plan working very well. The simple fact of the matter is that the Chinese government will find a way to quickly nip it in the bud, or worse, unplug the connection to the outside altogether.
I went and looked at the instructions that Bennett Haselton (an activist commissioned by the IBB to suggest a solution) offered, and was appalled. I'm a programmer (and one time system administrator) with a high sense of what running a server entails and what risks one takes with running any servers on a home PC using an always on connection. Mr. Haselton's instructions never mentions any of these risks, nor does he mention the need to check for updates for the software he recommends that you install. I hope the IBB did not spend much of our money on this guy.
I went and looked at the instructions that Bennett Haselton (an activist commissioned by the IBB to suggest a solution) offered, and was appalled. I'm a programmer (and one time system administrator) with a high sense of what running a server entails and what risks one takes with running any servers on a home PC using an always on connection. Mr. Haselton's instructions never mentions any of these risks, nor does he mention the need to check for updates for the software he recommends that you install. I hope the IBB did not spend much of our money on this guy.
