Re: WCN website blocked in China

Hi,

We had the same problem with sutp.org for a while, but then we found
out that there are some regulations in China regarding web publishing
(plus the usual banning of certain content), and published www.sutp.cn
which is an actual mirror of the original page (except that we
registered it in some ministry or secretary). I don't find the full
instructions on what must be done, but hopefully it is easy to overcome
and it shouldn't be a hassle to solve. If the website has too many
indications of content which is non-agreeable to the Party's ideology,
it is probable to be blocked.

Also, blocked websites are normally not accessible from public
institutions and universities, but private places (particularly hotels)
don't have these problems. Anyway, hope it helps.

Best regards,

Carlos.

jane. wrote:

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!

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