The “Great Firewall of China,” used by the government of the People’s Republic of China to block users from reaching content it finds objectionable, is actually a “panopticon” that encourages self-censorship through the perception that users are being watched, rather than a true firewall, according to researchers at UC Davis and the University of New Mexico.
The researchers are developing an automated tool, called ConceptDoppler, to act as a weather report on changes in Internet censorship in China. ConceptDoppler uses mathematical techniques to cluster words by meaning and identify keywords that are likely to be blacklisted.
Many countries carry out some form of Internet censorship. Most rely on systems that block specific Web sites or Web addresses, said Earl Barr, a graduate student in computer science at UC Davis who is an author on the paper. China takes a different approach by filtering Web content for specific keywords and selectively blocking Web pages.
In 2006, a team at the University of Cambridge, England, discovered that when the Chinese system detects a banned word in data traveling across the network, it sends a series of three “reset” commands to both the source and the destination. These “resets” effectively break the connection. But they also allow researchers to test words and see which ones are censored.
Barr, along with Jed Crandall, a recent UC Davis graduate who is now an assistant professor of computer science at the School of Engineering, University of New Mexico; UC Davis graduate students Daniel Zinn and Michael Byrd; and independent researcher Rich East sent messages to Internet addresses within China containing a variety of different words that might be subject to censorship.
If China’s censorship system were a true firewall, most blocking would take place at the border with the rest of the Internet, Barr said. But the researchers found that some messages passed through several routers before being blocked.
A firewall would also block all mentions of a banned word or phrase, but banned words reached their destinations on about 28 percent of the tested paths, Byrd said. Filtering was particularly erratic at times of heavy Internet use.
The words used to probe the Chinese Internet were not selected at random.
“If we simply bombarded the Great Firewall with random words, we would waste resources and time,” Zinn said.
The researchers took the Chinese version of Wikipedia, extracted individual words and used a mathematical technique called latent semantic analysis to work out the relationships between different words. If one of the words was censored within China, they could look up which other closely related words are likely to be blocked as well.
Examples of words tested by the researchers and found to be banned included references to the Falun Gong movement and the protest movements of 1989; Nazi Germany and other historical events; and general concepts related to democracy and political protest.
“Imagine you want to remove the history of the Wounded Knee massacre from the Library of Congress,” Crandall said. “You could remove ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ and a few other selected books, or you could remove every book in the entire library that contains the word ‘massacre.’”
By analogy, Chinese Internet censorship based on keyword filtering is the equivalent of the latter — and indeed, the keyword “massacre” (in Chinese) is on the blacklist.
Because it filters ideas rather than specific Web sites, keyword filtering stops people from using proxy servers or “mirror” Web sites to evade censorship. But because it is not completely effective all the time, it probably acts partly by encouraging self-censorship, Barr said. When users within China see that certain words, ideas and concepts are blocked most of the time, they might assume that they should avoid those topics.
The original panopticon was a prison design developed by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. Bentham proposed that a central observer would be able to watch all the prisoners, while the prisoners would not know when they were being watched.
The work will be presented at the Association for Computing Machinery Computer and Communications Security Conference in Alexandria, Va., Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2007.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu
They are cheating with their people. Actually they are trying to keep the internet user out of the world I say.
Letterpress Cheat
They can’t block all of the proxies in the world. If they want to block onlie opposition, their best choice is to cut off the cable at all. James
I really appreciated your effort, keep updating, light relief
Good article. Just as it is written on the country. It’s like a robot from the matrix wrote. Such as spyware reviews for example. Or just where the text is copied. But this is just speculation on my part …
How about doing the opposite. Block China out instead?
M
under counter tv
There are so many internet fraud in China, few times ago Gmail has been hacked by chinese hacker @ Criminal Minds
This internet censorship crap is getting way out control. Chain is a real night mare I know but even some well civilized nations do it these days. I can understand if a nation blocks access to child P0rnorgaphics and the like but blocking a word like massacre doesn’t really make sense at all. What the logic behind that. Does the person blocking the information hopping that topic is not good for me has better understanding of life than me and can protect me from the evil done in this world.
Emily
LPN Training
Excellent Article. China needs to start moving towards better freedom of speech, or something bad will probably happen…
Hello..i love scienceblog…The blog design is simple and attractive and the content posted here is very useful for users like me..
This was just what I was on looking for. I’ll come back to this blog for sure! I bookmarked this blog a while ago because of the useful content and I am never being disappointed. Keep up the good work .
Pharmacy Tech Salary
I paid USB-COM HITECH CO. LTD $270 for UMPC-E70-3. After the payment was completed, they emailed: “MOQ=10 you have to pay $2700 or we Refund you next week.” Then the company refused to pick my calls or reply my mails.
I made tracert and GoogleMap investigations of USB-COM HITECH CO Address. It was not in Wuyi road Changsha Hunan 410001 China but In Beijing.
The website is
http://www.usb-com.com/
The name of the correspondent was
Mike Wang
My name is Jurijs.
How about:
1. open Case in Beijing Police
2. open Case in Changsha Bank
Great job
thanks
http://www.hqimage.com/
This is a really good read for me. Must agree that you are one of the coolest blogger I ever saw. Thanks for posting this useful information. This was just what I was on looking for. I’ll come back to this blog for sure! I bookmarked this blog a while ago because of the useful content and I am never being disappointed. Keep up the good work .Thanks
Hard Drive Recovery
HAHAHAHAA yeah man freedur does rock. as for censorship and self-censorship, the truth is that Chinese netizens are very aware of the government’s heavy handed blunt approach to keeping people “harmonized” (term used by netizens to describe censorship) and they have as many ways around it as the government has to stop it.
its a cat and mouse game that the cat will always lose. Sure, the mouse has to be careful and might get annoyed with the cat … but just watch a few Tom and Jerry episodes and you’ll get the picture.
here is an article I wrote during the 08 Olympics about censorship, check it out and if you would like to comment on it, you can reach me at saschamatuszak.com.
http://www.antiwar.com/matuszak/?articleid=13255
Thanks for this article!
Well you live and learn. Beware do not send monies by western union to china – not secured. Paypal a safeer alternative. I have been dealing with other china wholesalers without any problems. It’s people like these who ruin it for others. BEWARE!!!! BE SAFE!!! @ conceive a baby
China famous for the electronic gadgets have stepped ahead and in a process of controlling the Internet’s Fraud in their county. THe researchers are in search and are in a process of developing an aotomated tool known a ConceptDoppler. ConceptDoppler uses mathematical techniques to cluster words by meaning and identify keywords that are likely to be blacklisted. THis is a good news and china is in process to reduce Internet fraud. Thanks for such nice article..THanks for sharing such a useful information…Newark moving companies
The researchers are developing an automated tool, called ConceptDoppler, to act as a weather report on changes in Internet censorship in China. ConceptDoppler uses mathematical techniques to cluster words by meaning and identify keywords ,.Thank you,.creare site web
Really interesting piece. Shame my firewall is not as effective! I have friends in China and they say the kids still get through and watch inappropriate content. Firewalls are always behind the imagination and ingenuity of children. Rich@debt solutions
The Chinese are great. Slowly but surely they are marching to success. Minds they have and they use them. Especially since they were most in the world.
Great article.. very informative
china have very big internet market and also handle with deep eyes . disability insurance
To some extent, I do admire the gov of china to monitor all the internet connection throughout the mainland. What a huge resources they have. used stationary bikes
I came search9ng for this topic and I came across your blog through Google. Your article is very informative. I will keep up withn your update.
Government censors disabled keyword searches for “Urumqi”, & blocked access to Facebook & Twitter as well as local options Fanfou & Youku. Chinese news sites Watch Anime chiefly fed from Xinhua news service for updates about the rioting in Urumqi, comments features on sites were disabled on some tales to prevent negative posts about the dearth of news…
i think it’s lightyears away from realization. but if they are working hard, they may achieve it. Rocket German Premium Review Rocket French Review Power4Home Review
Contact you for what? I dont just get it..AllenWartrolProvillus
This post remind me of the issue Google had with China…
I wonder how things actually work from there but i cannot strike a balance now between law and culture.
I am planning to use make a compilation of law essays that i have made for two years. They are all about he conflict of law and culture and which should we retain.
What you think?
I paid someone who called themselves “Amy”, if that was her name. I sent them $300 including western union fees.
She or he garanteed me they were reliable. They directed me to they website which looked very professional.
CROOKS!!! I was to purchase a Wii system bundle – supposedly authentic. Ha what a joke. I received a bogus bootleg psp. A real piece of crap. Of course after that they wouldn’t respond.
Well you live and learn. Beware do not send monies by western union to china – not secured. Paypal a safeer alternative. I have been dealing with other china wholesalers without any problems. It’s people like these who ruin it for others. BEWARE!!!! BE SAFE!!!
China’s panopticon reminds me of George Orwell’s dystopia, 1984, where the government is continuously forging the history by editing all the evidence, and the population is mentally controlled by removing words from the dictionary and thus limiting everyone’s thinking capacity. Tim O’Reiley Data Recovery
china, is indeed, destined for great things.. they have artifacts and proof of their hard labor, and now they conquer the world wide web, in development and technological innovations. surely, nothing’s shocking here, it’s just about time that china takes their part on a digital world!
its still not as far fetched as we think.
please contact me andrei82hitt@yahoo.com , thanks
His is a good news and china is in process to reduce Internet fraud. Thanks for such nice article.
Placed an order at Worldwidele.com Paid for all the 5 products, over 700 Euros!! But I don´t receive the goods!!! Contacted them a million times, no answers, just my money gone!!!! Never order something at Worldwidele.com!!!!!!!!!! They make you pay but you don´t get the products you ordered!!!!!!
Name of the FRAUD: Xiaoyong Liang
(6)Beneficiary Address:No.108 ZISHAN ROAD,ZHENGZHOU HENAN CHINA
China famous for the electronic gadgets have stepped ahead and in a process of controlling the Internet’s Fraud in their county. THe researchers are in search and are in a process of developing an aotomated tool known a ConceptDoppler. ConceptDoppler uses mathematical techniques to cluster words by meaning and identify keywords that are likely to be blacklisted. THis is a good news and china is in process to reduce Internet fraud. Thanks for such nice article..THanks for sharing such a useful information…
gdp eu 2009
Women main victims of Internet fraud. These frauds send sweet words to lure the victim into a revealing conversation, too-good-to-be-true schemes, threats of retaliation if money is not sent. 70% women suffered due to this fraudulence.
Google Wave
China government provides their children good education and good life. And I can help them with my custom essays. And they will appreciate my help!
Intedy Technilogy Limited – Epsino Technology Limited
These are SCAM COMPANYS ..DO NOT SEND THEM PAYMENT UPFRONT – YOU`LL LOSE YOUR MONEY.
they have another FRAUD SCAM SITE NOW – JOY SUMMIT on made-in-china.com
all these sites have the same owner!!
Hi Juliet
My name is Bob and live in Australia, some 3-4 Months ago I got cought on a Mobile Phone Purchase over the Internet to a Company in England and I Lost a Total of AU$2500, it’s a Long story but again I took the word of the Person at the other end to be the trooth, and I was riped off, nothing I can do about it, I looked at your situation in relation to an other company I was resurching over the last few days and noted some very very close simalarities.
I have sent you an Email Via the normal Email service with the details.
Regards
Bob.
I was looking for laptops and Nitendo Wii and Playstation 3 to buy. I was looking for the best deal for me as I wanted to get presents for my husband and my little cousins. I stumbled across this website http://www.gogonewyear.com and on their website they had what I was looking for. I asked for the price and I was given a quote of 550usd as I was told that they were a factory and I was by passing the middle man hence the low price. I asked how I could pay for the items and I was told that I they only accepted western union or bank transfers. I went for the bank transfer option as I felt that was the safer option.
On the 29th May 2009, I transferred 550usd which was about £385 from my account to the account below, which was supplied to me and which is on their website.
1. T/T (BANK TO BANK TRANSFER) BANK OF CHINA BEIJING WANGJNG KEJIYUAN SUB-BRANCH No.1 Huguang Zhong Street,Chaoyang District,Beijing,China. A/C name :HUANG PING . A/C No.4020700-01880209910. SWIFT code:BKCH CN BJ 110.
They confirmed that they have received the money on the 3rd June and that in 5 days I will be receiving my order. They gave me a tracking number EE032242207CN. On Saturday 13th June 2009, I went to the post office to collect the parcel, I was surprised to be receiving a very tiny box. When I opened the box to my shock and surprise it was an empty Nokia phone box, with nothing in the box.
I went back home and tried to speak to them and none of them would answer or talk with me. I completed a complaint form on their website and up till date I still have not received anything.
The person that I had been dealing with calls herself XI Meng, it might not be her real name but that is what she gave me. Her screen name when you click on the live chat on their website is Spring.
I have emails from her about their products which I have attached to this email.
My main concern is that fraudulent companies like these are still allowed to trade. I am very unhappy and would like to know what can be done about me getting my money back. I am an honest worker and I have worked hard for my money and now I have been defrauded by this Chinese company.
I have ordered goods from all over the world and I have never had any problem until I ordered goods from this Chinese based company in Beijing.
I need advice on how I can go about getting my money back and also how such companies can be shut down and the culprits locked up for life.
Many thanks
My name is Juliet and my email is julietdd2@hotmail.com
I have unfiltered access to any site from China using http://www.Freedur.com. This little proxy rocks. They offer free trial. Try it, you’ll like it.
I paid USBCOM HITECH CO. LTD $687 for two laptops. They claimed the money they received was $592. I had to pay an extra $33, totaling $720. After the payment was completed, the company refused to pick my calls or reply my mails. For more than two weeks now, I have been begging them to refund my money or send the laptops but they have refused. I am now at the mercy of my customers.
This is a STAIN ON THE INTEGRITY OF CHINA and I strongly propose that the company be dealt with accordingly.
The website is
http://www.usb-com.com/
The names of the correspondents are
LEE LEE
ALEX LEE
My name is OMOTOLA AKINLADE
My email is:
atola2us@yahoo.com
If anybody knows anything more about these scam bugs, please spread the world. These people must not be visible on the Internet by any human being. These are the morons that take China business down, these are the people that knowlingly moving the trust from other countries to ZERO. Any suggestions where these message should be posted are welcome. They have to be shut down.
I Paid for goods, goods were never shipped. These people http://www.tobe2009.cn/ tried to sell me big quantity of Game Systems. I ordered only 2, just to for test order. Paid like it said all over trading China websites Western Union. Spent $314, just to try these people at Beijing Tobe2009.Co.Ltd. Their email address is gold-ecplaza@hotmail.com (I was contacted by SSARAH)
Office Address: Room4102, unit8,layer4, Digital Building, Haidian district, Beijing, China
Contact Person: MR.huang
TEL: +86 010-89183851
Western Union Person who picked up money is: Yang Yang
Words as “Don’t worry friend, we are honest” were written about 10 times in all correspondence from them. They provided a bunch of tracking numbers to prove they shipped goods to other countries.
They did send me tracking number EE101864147CN, which is fake, and it does not work on EMS.com website. After trying to check my tracking number and trying to contact these nuts, they stopped responding on emails. AVOID these people from http://www.tobe2009.cn . I paid for my experience and now we got another Chiniese scammers discovered.
Now they use other site http://www.tobe2009.cn and the have the same bank account :
BANK OF CHINA BEIJING WANGJING KEJIYUAN SUB-BRANCH No.1 Huguang Zhong Street,Chaoyang District,Beijing,China
A/C name :HUANG PING
A/C No.4020700-01880209910
SWIFT code:BKCH CN BJ 110
The details of western union is
TERMS OF PAYMENT
First name:PING last name:HUANG
City :BeiJing China
let me know if you want an interview – just email me at my blog here on scienceblog.
Thanks, i just cited you for a project i am doing on china’s internet censorship. your words come from a regular guy, which can mean alot
I lived behind that firewall for two years and I can assure you that it is real. Things are just plain simply blocked and inaccessible.
But it is also true, that it acts also as “‘panopticon’ that encourages self-censorship”. If you are threatened to go to prison for many years, then you will be careful what you are doing.
Falun Gong.