Chinese evolution

Censorship is an arms race of sorts. On one side the desire for information outside of public control, on the other, the forces of conformity, political obeisance, moral rectitude etc. In this article on the Chinese internet, we see a little of how this arms race is playing out.

Inevitably, censorship fails. But the length and effort that the Chinese govt. is taking to maintain central authority is nothing short of staggering.

My own suspicion is that market forces will eventually crack the Chinese firewall. Ideas and money will flow in and out of China, and they and their people will be a fully functioning organ of the international community.

But that doesn't mean that others won't backslide...

Money quote:

"Our political system is vastly different from China's," Finkelstein says, "but if we had a national panic, if we felt we had to censor the Internet, it's scary how easily it could be done. There's a famous saying, 'The Internet considers censorship to be damage, and routes around it.' I say, what if censorship is in the router?"