Google Chief’s Advice To North Korea Is As Bizzare As Visit

Jan 102013
 

Eric Schmidt concluded his controversial four day visit to North Korea with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson with an exhortation to the pariah state to open up internet access.  It is a call that is so inane and inappropriate it can only increase speculation as to why he went there at all.

The trip which Governor Richardson had apparently initiated in order to try and secure the release of a US tour guide imprisoned there had drawn criticism from the State Department which did not support his outreach to a rogue state. The reason for Mr Schmidt’s presence was somewhat unclear.

But if it really was to spread the good word about the internet he would have done better to stay home and sent an email. Unless he is in possession of hitherto unseen supernatural abilities he would have had more luck nailing jello to a ceiling than convincing the world’s most repressive state to open the doors to the online world.

The United Nations reports that ten percent of North Korean children are so stunted by malnutrition that they have permanent physical and mental impairment. The country relies on foreign aid and grudging support of its neighbors to survive day to day.

What would average North Koreans do if they had internet access? Perhaps google “food” and “shelter” to see what it looks like. The internet can be a useful tool for democratic reform but not if you are going to die from a treatable disease while waiting for a search engine to finish bring up its results.

There are priorities for North Korea and concentrating on feeding, housing, educating and keeping them healthy is probably slightly ahead of disarmament and abandonment of a nuclear weapons program which itself is much, much higher up the list than internet access at this stage.

The whole rational for undertaking this visit is bewildering. Unless there was some secret mission they were on, the governor and the google CEO seem to have done little more than provide photo opportunities and reflected glory for the leaders of the most repressive, isolated anti-free speech ant-democratic country in the world.

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New Research On Computer Backdoors Reveals Disturbing Long Term Risks For All Netizens

Nov 052012
 

Research by the University of Toronto Citizen Lab shows that computer back doors are a permanent security risk to users through out the world.

Their research based on events in the middle east demonstrates readily available commercial software is being used by governments to infiltrate computers used by critics and dissidents.

Bloomberg news reported the case of Ahmed Mansoor who was sitting in “his study in Dubai and made the mistake of clicking on a Microsoft Word attachment that arrived in an e-mail, labeled “very important” in Arabic, from a sender he thought he recognized.

“With that click, the pro-democracy activist unwittingly downloaded spyware that seized on a flaw in the Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) program to take over his computer and record every keystroke. The hackers infiltrated his digital life so deeply they still accessed his personal e-mail even after he changed his password.

Since then, Mansoor, 42, an electrical engineer and father of four, says he has suffered two beatings by thugs in September during his campaign for citizens’ civil rights in the Persian Gulf federation of the United Arab Emirates. While those assailants remain unknown, researchers say they’ve figured out what was behind the virtual assault.

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South Korea Finds Common Ground With The North In Censorship Policies

Sep 212012
 

While it is good to see North and South Korea find shared interests and activities. It is hardly comforting when that unity is censorship.

South Korea has begun  an internet crackdown blocking twitter accounts that mock the President, bringing criminal defamation cases against people involved in legitimate criticism of  government policy and even firing a judge who wrote that the “the president (“His Highness”) was out to “screw” Internet users who challenged his authority,” according to a report in the NY Times.

It really should be a guiding principle in South Korea that if the North does it then it probably is a mistake.  Sadly they seem to be ignoring this when it comes to the internet.

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Google Predicts Censorship Battles Will Get More Intensive And Dangerous

Jun 282011
 

Internet giant Google says fights with governments over internet censorship and control are likely to become more intense and authorities are likely to be more aggressive to the extent of torture in order to maintain control over online content.

Reuters news agency reported google, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt saying he feared his own colleagues now faced mounting danger of arrest and torture.

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“The Internet In A Suitcase” U.S. Plan To Out Flank Repressive Regimes

Jun 222011
 

 

The United States is developing ways to allow citizens under repressive regimes to maintain free accesss to the internet and mobile phones

PCMag.com reports that the State Department-led project “involves the building of independent phone networks in foreign countries and the creation of a $2-million prototype “Internet in a suitcase” by an entrepreneurial outfit operating out of a building on L Street in Washington, D.C., The New York Times reported Monday.”

“The idea is to fit innocent-looking hardware components into a package that could easily be snuck into a repressive country and quickly assembled to deliver wireless service across a wide area to maintain crucial communications between legitimately protesting citizens, according to The Times, which cited “dozens of interviews, planning documents and classified diplomatic cables” it obtained.”

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Global Press Freedoms Hit New Low: Burma and North Korea Lead From The Bottom

May 032011
 
Washington based information freedom watchdog Freedom House released a study this week showing a worldwide decline in access to a free media.
While most of the crackdowns came in the middle east the Asian region had two of the ten worst offenders in the list in Burma and North Korea.
Thailand, Cambodia and China were also found to have a declining free press and restrictive online access.
The reports summary states: The number of people worldwide with access to free and independent media declined to its lowest level in over a decade.

China Denies Cyber Attack On South Korea: Says (with a straight face) ‘It Would Be Against Chinese Law’

Mar 092011
 

How website outlookindia portrayed a similar attack against its government's computers. In that case China was also accused of being behind the cyber spying

China’s foreign ministry hit back at South Korean accusations it had hacked into sensitive Government computers to access files on a war plane deal with United States.

Instead of a simple denial followed by a hurt look a ministry spokesperson instead tried saying that such an attack would not have happened because it was prohibited under Chinese law.

Chinese officials saying they would never engage in cyber attacks because it is against the law is about as honest and accurate as the captain of the Titanic saying “there is no cause for panic we are just stopping to stock up on ice”.

AFP reported foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu telling reporters ”I want to emphasize that Chinese law prohibits any cyberattacks including hacking of any form and fights against these types of crimes in accordance with the law.”

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China Unhappy With U.S. Move To Fund Cyber Dissidents

Feb 172011
 

China reacted angrily to Wednesday’s announcement that the Obama administration was making $25 million available to help democracy activists and cyber disidents circumvent online censorship.

The money is to be used to enable netizens to overcome online hurdles such as China’s great firewall. Ironicall, but unsurprisingl, one China’s first actions following the announcement was to censor reports of it.

Recent popular uprisings in the middle east, while not being attributed to the influence of the internet or social media, were certainly assisted by it. 

Social media was a key tool in the organization of the uprisings which tapped into long held resentments, it did not create those resentments in the first place.

But the swift actions by large numbers of citizens have been carefully watched by leaders of authoritarian regimes like China fearful they will suffer a similar fate.

New agency The Canadian Press reports that “China on Thursday warned the United States not to use calls for uncensored access to the Internet as a pretext to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries.”

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China’s Censors Blocking Coverage Of Egyptian Uprising

Feb 022011
 

China is blocking coverage of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprising or giving a slanted view via state media as one party states in Asia take a sober look at what is happening in the middle east.

China, Burma and North Korea are all heeding the happenings that threaten to topple regimes similar to their own.

As the NY Times reports. “In another era, China’s leaders might have been content to let discussion of the protests in Egypt float around among private citizens, then fizzle out.

“But challenges in recent years to authoritarian governments around the globe and violent uprisings in parts of China itself have made Chinese officials increasingly wary of leaving such talk unchecked, especially on the Internet, the medium some officials see as central to fanning the flames of unrest.

Radio Free Asia has spoken to experts who all point out that the lesson for Asia is that a heavy hand cannot keep the people down indefinately and the leadership needs to loosen the shackles willingly or the people will do it for themselves.

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South Korean Cyber Police Cracking Down On False Rumors Following North Korean Attack

Nov 252010
 

South Korea ‘s specialist cyber police are pursuing anyone found to be posting what they say is false information regarding North Korea’s attack on Yeonpyeong Island.

The JoongAng Daily says the The Cyber Investigations Unit at the North Jeolla Provincial Police Agency is investigating a 34-year-old man surnamed Lee yesterday for writing on the Internet that the Yeonpyeong Island bombardment was provoked by South Korea.

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