Couldn’t Help But Notice (021308)

A Hollywooder shows some spine:

Steven Spielberg has decided not to participate in this summer’s Beijing Olympic Games as an artistic adviser, citing China’s lack of progress in resolving the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
His move is a public relations blow to the Chinese government, which is under pressure to force the government of Sudan to resolve the crisis in Darfur.

Spielberg’s worldwide profile could lead others involved in the Games to pull out and even lead sponsors to reconsider their roles in the event.

Let’s hope so.

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Speaking of China (HT Information Week via Techdirt), this is four months old, but it needs more notice than it has received:

A “Journey to the Heart of Internet censorship” on eve of party congress

In partnership with Reporters Without Borders and Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a Chinese Internet expert working in IT industry has produced an exclusive study on the key mechanism of the Chinese official system of online censorship, surveillance and propaganda. The author prefers to remain anonymous.

On the eve of the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which opens this week in Beijing, Reporters Without Borders and the Chinese Human Rights Defenders call on the government to allow the Chinese to exercise their rights to freedom of press, expression and information.

“This system of censorship is unparalleled anywhere in the world and is an insult to the spirit of online freedom,” the two organisations said. “With less than a year to go before the Beijing Olympics, there is an urgent need for the government to stop blocking thousands of websites, censoring online news and imprisoning Internet activists.”

Good luck with that.

Techdirt describes the size and scope of the censorship machine:

Apparently, there are three agencies responsible for different aspects of online censorship: the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau, the Bureau of Information and Public Opinion, and the Internet Bureau. There’s also the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau to handle all the internet firms located in Beijing. It’s all very organized. The Propaganda Agency is in charge of licensing news agencies — but the licenses aren’t to report news or do any, you know, reporting. The licenses are to report propaganda provided by the government. The Public Opinion group basically watches over what public opinion is saying and lets Party leaders know about it, so that a response can quickly be generated. The Internet Bureau, then, is where the real censorship takes place. As for the Beijing Internet organization, it meets with the big internet firms and tells them what news stories will be allowed or not allowed that week.

All with the assistance of members of the BizzyBlog Internet Wall of Shame. According to Information Week, three of whom (Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!) called for, and got, the US State Department to form a task force last year “to investigate the problems posed to the Internet by repressive regimes” — that they are assisting.

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A Cincinnati-area state rep has introduced a bill to make English the official language in the State of Ohio. This post from Virginia (HT Instapundit) is part of why it’s a good idea.