Thursday, July 30, 2015

China Wants to Set the Rules for the Global Internet



China Wants to Set the Rules for the Global Internet
by John Hayward 29 Jul 2015
As James T. Areddy at the Wall Street Journal tells it, the Chinese military was deeply troubled by the role a supposedly U.S.-dominated Internet played in destabilizing other despotic governments and warned Beijing could be next. The warning described the Internet as “a new form of global control” and the United States as a “shadow” hovering behind various uprisings.

The warning evidently resonated with the Chinese Politburo, as Areddy reports they are “pushing to rewrite the rules of the global Internet, aiming to draw the world’s largest group of Internet users away from an interconnected global commons and to increasingly run parts of the Internet on China’s terms.”

It envisions a future in which governments patrol online discourse like border-control agents, rather than let the U.S., long the world’s digital leader, dictate the rules.

President Xi Jinping—with the help of conservatives in government, academia, military and the technology industry—is moving to exert influence over virtually every part of the digital world in China, from semiconductors to social media. In doing so, Mr. Xi is trying to fracture the international system that makes the Internet basically the same everywhere, and is pressuring foreign companies to help.

On July 1, China’s legislature passed a new security law asserting the nation’s sovereignty extends into cyberspace and calling for network technology to be “controllable.” A week later, China released a draft law to tighten controls over the domestic Internet, including codifying the power to cut access during public-security emergencies.

Other draft laws under consideration would encourage Chinese companies to find local replacements for technology equipment purchased abroad and force foreign vendors to give local authorities encryption keys that would let them control the equipment.

As the WSJ piece details, China now has the commercial clout to force its grim ideology on the Internet in much the same fashion:

Such a strategy would have been impossible a few years ago when Western companies dominated the Internet. That has started to change with the rise of Chinese powers such as e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., online conglomerate Tencent HoldingsLtd. and information aggregator Sina Corp., which enable Chinese citizens to enjoy most services Westerners use, plus some unique to China, without needing Google Inc. or Facebook Inc. Chinese companies are easier for Beijing to control and have a history of censoring users upon demand.

The government is directing financial and policy support toward domestic firms that are developing semiconductors and servers that can replace ones provided by Western players. Earlier this year, Premier Li Keqiang unveiled Internet Plus, a strategy to incubate Chinese companies that integrate mobile, cloud and other types of computing with manufacturing and business.

It would actually be less toxic for the cause of freedom around the world if China used all those blueprints it has been stealing from Western companies to manufacture its own hardware, instead of muscling foreign companies into playing its game. Unfortunately, Western companies eager to retain Chinese market shares are falling all over themselves to please Beijing and prove themselves compatible with the communist agenda. The WSJ mentions LinkedIn, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple among the companies that have made significant concessions to Chinese censorship and/or online surveillance.

It is also mentioned that China likes to use Edward Snowden and his leaks about American cyber intelligence as a rhetorical club for demanding greater Chinese control of the Internet, for those still working to total up in the incredible damage Snowden caused. His superfans should set aside their congratulatory rhetoric about freedom of information and come to terms with the hard, cold fact that the Internet will end up less free around the globe because of what he did.

As mentioned above, China finds sympathetic ears across the world when it complains about excessive freedom of speech and privacy for citizens, everywhere from Russia to Europe and the United States. This is one of the reasons the American Left has been so disturbingly sympathetic to Islamic speech codes, after spending decades posturing as free-thinking, anti-religious, censorship-thwarting, provocative iconoclasts. They like the idea of imposing more stringent controls on speech, and they’re quite happy to throw Islamists a bone about forbidding Mohammed cartoons to win their support. They agree on principle that free speech must be restricted to protect government power and maintain order.

The Western left, abetted by the well-fed trans-partisan bureaucratic class, will likewise agree with China that the Internet should be more heavily regulated and monitored. There will be some dispute about the details, but China has enough economic leverage to render most of these disputes academic. The cost of maintaining special hardware, software, and operating parameters just for the huge Chinese market, plus other domineering environments like Turkey or Russia, will be too high for international vendors to bear; it’s better to devise universal standards acceptable to the most demanding governments.

The safe bet is that tomorrow’s online world will look much closer to Beijing’s vision than the wild, creative, messy, and sometimes fearsome digital anarchy American users are currently accustomed to.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
Alibaba Group Holding was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Note: Google Inc. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the co-chair, national finance council for the Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary), and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.  
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the New America Foundation.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and a presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election (Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary).
Chelsea V. Clinton is the vice chair for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
William J. Clinton is the founder of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Hewlett-Packard Co. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Marc L. Andreessen is a director at the Hewlett-Packard Co., a director at Facebook, and was an angel investor for the LinkedIn Corporation.
Lisa P. Jackson is a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and is the VP for Apple Inc.
Susie Tompkins Buell was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and is a national finance council member for the Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary).
Audre Rapoport was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and a contributor for the Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary).
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and was the China U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration.
J. Stapleton Roy was a U.S. ambassador for China, and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Shirley M. Tilghman is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a director at the Google Inc.
Google censors itself for China
Last Updated: Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 08:45 GMT
Leading internet company Google has said it will censor its search services in China in order to gain greater access to China's fast-growing market.
Google has offered a Chinese-language version of its search engine for years but users have been frustrated by government blocks on the site.
The company is setting up a new site - Google.cn - which it will censor itself to satisfy the authorities in Beijing.
Eric E. Schmidt is the chairman of Google Inc., the chairman of the New America Foundation, was a funder for the New America Foundation, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the New America Foundation, and the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Norman Pearlstine is a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and was a managing editor for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Thomas R. Pickering was a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a chairman of review board that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2013, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and was the China U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration.
Newton N. Minow  is an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013       
Robert S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Edward Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton, and leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA).
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.                    
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.   
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby form for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
Hong Kong Trade Development Council is the trade group for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region for China.
Ogilvy Public Relations is a public relations firm for Hong Kong, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Alibaba Group Holding was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Google Inc. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the co-chair, national finance council for the Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary), and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.  
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the New America Foundation.
Susie Tompkins Buell was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and is a national finance council member for the Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary).
Audre Rapoport was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and a contributor for the Ready PAC (Ready for Hillary).
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and was the China U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration.
J. Stapleton Roy was a U.S. ambassador for China, and is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Shirley M. Tilghman is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a director at the Google Inc.
Google Inc. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Eric E. Schmidt is the chairman of Google Inc., the chairman of the New America Foundation, was a funder for the New America Foundation, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Google's Eric Schmidt talks about how to run the world (not that he wants to) (PAST RESEARCH)
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and was a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Edward Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton, and leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA).
Richard Wilhelm was an information warfare director for the National Security Agency (NSA), is a senior executive adviser for Booz Allen Hamilton, and a member of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age.
Margaret A. Hamburg is a member of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, and the VP for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), was the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).   
David A. Hamburg is an adviser at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the president emeritus for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the New America Foundation, and the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Norman Pearlstine is a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and was a managing editor for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

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