A Discussion of the OpenNet Initiative

As an American, I feel that I am bit spoiled. I have hot running water 24/7, delicious food to eat, and abundant opportunities to speak my mind. One way in which I exercise my right to free speech is through the Internet. I would say that the Web is the most powerful tool I have access to. It's hard to imagine life without it. However, there are parts of the world that do not have this luxury. The goal of the OpenNet Initiative is to "identify and document Internet filtering and surveillance, and to promote and inform wider public dialogs about such practices." Believe it or not, there are countries in the world that severely restrict their citizens from the intellectual super highway.
Before the recent war, Iraq was a country where speech was censored and Internet use was severely limited. Today, however, there are over 100 internet cafes located in the country thanks to the American occupation. There is no evidence of content filtering whatsoever. Iraq is not completely free from restriction though. The country's president may declare martial law at any time and seize information from computers or the net. In the years to come it will be interesting to see how the new government in Iraq deals with its citizens internet use.
I looked at two other countries on the OpenNet Initiative website- India and North Korea. These are two countries at almost complete opposite sides of the internet filtering spectrum. India participates in some selective filtering for security, but its internet use remains largely open. Of the websites blocked there are many inconsistencies. The blogging community in India is actually very involved in keeping its countries internet filter free. This would never be seen in a country like North Korea.
North Korea is referred to as a "virtual blackhole" in cyberspace on the ONI website. Only a small minority of social and political elites are allowed access to the internet. The government regulates almost all information and communication inside the country. It citizens have never known the awesome power of the unfiltered net.

I hope that one day, far into the future, all the citizens of Earth will be allowed access to the Internet. The communication between societies, I believe, would bring the human race closer together. We are so far away from this dream now, but if it is accomplished the possibilities are endless.

Reaction to "Google's China Problem (and China's Google Problem) "

We all know of Google as the company that has been innovating the Internet for years. Their search tools are extraordinary and offer virtually limitless results. This is why it is so surprising to hear of Google censoring its search engine in China. Clive Thompson's article "Google's China Problem (and China's Google Problem)" presents a wonderful look at this situation though. As an American it is very hard to accept censorship of free speech. It is something that our democracy thrives on. China's Communist party does not enjoy the idea of citizens speaking out against those in power. As a result, many websites have become banned in China. Code and other types of routing techniques were put into place to accomplish this. A few years ago, Google became of these sites.

Google faced a very hard decision when it tried to adjust its site to China's laws. Option one was to accept the slow-downs that China had imposed on the site from censoring and loose market share. The other option was to put servers in China and accept copyright laws. The later is what Google choose to do.

At first we might think that Google betrayed its core values by giving into China's censoring. However, Google's thought process actually has some merit to it. By censoring its search results Google could provide fast search results and spread information even better. Really, this is what the internet is all about-The spreading of idea's and information as quickly as possible.

You might say that no matter what, China's citizens are still living in a censored world. This is very true, but the Chinese know this. Many are scared to go against their government. They want an internet where they know they won't have to worry about being put in jail.

I find the most interesting aspect of this article to be the idea that the internet has already changed Chinese society so much. Chinese bloggers can express most of their opinions freely. This freedom of thought is a starting point for better things to come. We may be upset with what China is doing with the internet, but at least the Chinese have a medium with which to connect and share ideas...

...and, in the end, ideas have more power than any government will ever possess.