Re: WCN website blocked in China

As long as I've been in China (since 2004), the WCN site has been blocked here. 

This is in contrast to other blanket blockages, like the recent blocking of Flickr, Twitter, etc., which was lifted just several days after it was imposed. Other sites, like Wikipedia, have at times been blocked; Blogspot, Livejournal, and Youtube are all currently blocked and have been for some months.

Sometimes, sites are blocked for no apparent reason. It's hard to say whether a site like WCN offends the CPC's agenda or if it was just coincidentally blocked.

Most parties who are genuinely interested in getting around the "Great Firewall" know how to use proxy sites to access blocked sites, but the added effort involved is indeed a deterrent. 

I'm no expert, but I've had a little bit of experience with this. The first step is to contact the server that the site is hosted on and ask if they know anything. It could be something as simple as the location of the server.

Protesting is no way to solve anything in China. Involving the Western media in Chinese affairs is also no way to solve anything here.

But given that the WCN site has little (no?) information in Chinese, I wonder how many would-be hits from China the site misses anyway. I would suspect not that many.

Jane


--- On Tue, 6/9/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:

From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [carfree_network] WCN website blocked in China
To: carfree_network-/[email protected]
Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 6:35 PM



 
 

Hi all,
 
I just heard that our WCN-website is blocked in 
China:
 
(...)
Yet another issue is accessibility. Specifically, a number of carfree 
websites, including the World Carfree Network's and World Streets (as it's 
hosted on blogspot), are currently blocked by China's firewall. 
(...)
 
- what to do about ?? I am no web-expert, but 
first we need to know about ... !
 
any ideas ? Information / contact chinese 
embassies ? Then protest if that doesn`t help ? involve public media ? Any 
experiences with that problem ?
 
(I guess only start an alternate website is no 
help - chinese web-controllers will find it and block. It`s a fundamental thing 
to solve, no ?)
 
cheers from Berlin
Markus
 
- the discussion below is about geographical 
re-focussing of the [sustrans] mailinglist , and how to improve 
participation
 
 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: jane. 
To: [email protected] 

Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 11:33 AM
Subject: [sustran] Fw: Re: Regional focus for sustran-discuss: Asia 
or theglobal South?



  
  
    

      
        
        
          
          
            Loss of face might be part of the explanation, but I 
              don't think it fully uncovers the situation. English might be the 
              language of educated classes in India and the Philippines, but 
              that still overlooks a vast number of people in the "Global 
              South"--namely, people in China (not to mention southeast Asia, 
              etc.). If we look at the Chinese-language Internet, for example, 
              we can see that it is extremely active, and the oft-quote "Chinese 
              netizens" tend to be very vocal and opinionated on both foreign 
              and domestic matters ... on Chinese-language discussion forums. 
              (See the somewhat raunchy www.chinasmack.com for a peek into this 
              activity, diligently translated into English by an anonymous 
              Shanghai-based blogger). To me this would indicate issues with 
              common language, lack of awareness of the list, and/or lack of 
              interest.

I suspect without resources available in 
              simplified Chinese, it will be mighty difficult to get many voices 
              heard from within mainland China. 

Yet another issue is 
              accessibility. Specifically, a number of carfree websites, 
              including the World Carfree Network's and World Streets (as it's 
              hosted on blogspot), are currently blocked by China's firewall. 
              

Does somebody have access to the number and demographics 
              of the existing members? How many are actually in Asia, and 
              especially the regions? Do those numbers shed any light on the 
              silence?

Jane

--- On Sun, 6/7/09, Zvi Leve 
              wrote:

              
From: 
                Zvi Leve 
Subject: [sustran] Re: Regional focus for 
                sustran-discuss: Asia or the global South?
To: "Jonathan E. 
                D. Richmond" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Paul Barter" 
                <[email protected]>, 
                [email protected]
Date: Sunday, June 7, 2009, 
                12:07 AM


                I do not think that it is exactly "fear of 
                punishment" that inhibits people from certain cultures from 
                participating in such 'public' exchanges - it is more a "fear of 
                losing face". That is, they are worried about how they will be 
                perceived by others.... When interacting with people directly it 
                is easier to understand the social cues, so more people would be 
                inclined to actively participate.

Not sure what can be 
                done about this. If one desires, it is not difficult to hide 
                one's true identity from the forum (generic email address, no 
                full name, etc.), but this does not seem to make much of a 
                difference.

Anyway.... 

Zvi




                2009/6/6 Jonathan E. D. Richmond <[email protected]>

                

I 
                  do not think the issue is fear of lack of knowledge but fear 
                  of punishment.

In many Asian countries there is a taboo 
                  about expressing opinions, an activity often felt to be 
                  reserved for politicians and the most senior officers 
                  --Jonathan! 
                  
                  
                  
 




-------------------------------------------------------- 
To search 
the archives of sustran-discuss 
visit
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss

-------------------------------------------------------- 

If you get sustran-discuss via YAHOOGROUPS, please go to 
http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real 
sustran-discuss and get full membership 
rights.

================================================================
SUSTRAN-DISCUSS 
is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable 
transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). 








      
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "World Carfree Network" group.
To post to this group, send email to carfree_network-/[email protected]
Replies are sent to the author of the message.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
carfree_network-unsubscribe-/[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/carfree_network?hl=en?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---