RSSChina to block Web sites, snoop on hotel guests during Olympics
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published July 30, 2008, 12:00 PM
Amidst admissions by Olympics officials that China will block journalists' access to "sensitive Web sites" during the summer games in Beijing, a US senator is charging that authorities also plan to spy on foreign guests staying in Chinese hotels.
"We are going to do our best to facilitate the foreign media to do their reporting work through the Internet," said Sun Weide, a spokesperson for China's Olympics organizing group, the BOCOF, at a news conference in China.
But a spokesman for the International Olynpics Committee (IOC) said that sites "not considered games related" will be blocked to reporters, despite previous assurances of unrestricted Internet access.
"I regret that it now appears that the BOCOG has announced there will be limitations on Web site access during games time." said Kevan Gosper, the IOC's press chief.
Chinese leaders, who have reportedly cut a deal with some IOC members, seem particularly concerned that full Internet access by sports reporters might somehow jeopardize security in Tibet.
Meanwhile, at a news conference in Washington, DC, US Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) contended this week that several international hotel chains have received an order from China's Public Security Bureau requiring them to install government software that can spy on the Internet use of hotel guests.
"These hotels are justifiably outraged by this order, which puts them in the awkward position of having to craft pop-up messages explaining to their customers that their Web history, communications, searches, and key strokes are being spied on by the Chinese government," Brownback said at the news conference.
Ironically, Brownback has also voted in favor of US legislative measures such as the FISA Amendments Act, which allows the US government to tap into US telecommunications system to monitor international phone calls and e-mails without a specific warrant.
Earlier this year, however, the U.S. Statement Department produced a fact sheet cautioning travelers attending the Olympic games that "they have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public or private locations" in China.
"All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or remote technical monitoring at all times," according to the State Department.
I have a feeling that Tor is gonna be the best download of the month.
Score: 0
|lol how true.
Score: 0
|How the hell did these idiots win the right to host the Olympics?! It's like sending the world's athletes to a prison camp to entertain the guards.
Score: 0
|Another good point. :P
Score: 0
|Cash. Remember how Salt Lake City won? Cash.
It's not exactly as if the U.S. government doesn't spy, anyway. They're just not as good at it and sometimes, they follow the law.
Score: 0
|Communism is now the ideal business model. Just ask Corporate America. :-)
Score: 0
|Its beyond me as to why they are even holding the Olympics in this polluted dump. How about having it in a place where certain athletes are forced to wear masks.
Score: 0
|They held the Olympics in Los Angeles, didn't they?
Score: 0
|Im not watching the Olympics because they are being hosted by a bunch of Reds who loathe freedom of speech,press and religion. China and the IOC can go pound sand.
Score: 0
|Reds? Isn't that the official color of the republicans also red?
Score: 0
|I am not a security expert, but I would recommend foreign travelers to use their own computers and to route all their internet traffic through Tor.
http://www.torproject.org/
It easily "solves" the filtering and spying problems by encrypting all of your internet traffic and routing it through the Tor network and out through another country.
Score: 0
|You sir are naive if you think that using a proxy site will mask your communications over the internet.
Any security person worth a darn can scan all traffic independent of its destination on a given network and essentially have his/her way with the data.
Score: 0
|Not if its from a secure site. All they'd see is they someone is browsing that proxy site and wouldn't be able to see past that.
Same way a user could connect to a computer remotely (assuming its secured) and browse any site they want.
Score: 0
|Unrestricted/unmonitored for sports reporters supposedly may lead to unrest in Tibet. Sure...
Score: 0
|By Brownback's logic, its okay to spy on your own citizens, but its not okay for other countries to do so?
Score: 0
|This is much more extreme and everyone knows it. To say that this similar is a joke.
Score: 0
|Spying on own citizens? What are you talking about? Are you referring to Clinton's "Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996???"
Score: 0
|Or how about the Bush Administration's Homeland Security? Illegal wiretaps anyone. [rollseyes]
Score: 0
|Hey we are being monitored by aliens as I type this message. E.T. Phone home.
Score: 0
|Actually, sjc, the wiretaps you speak of were legalized in the 1996 act. Just because Homeland used them, doesn't mean they're new. [rollseyes]
Score: 0
|They were suppose to get a judge to ok them, they didn't hence illegal.
Score: 0
|I'm not sure that I would agree. The only difference here is that it is a communist country. While I agree the web blocking is more extreme than the US, the spying certainly is not.
The only difference is that in the US, you don't really know you are being spied on. In this instance, you will get a popup advising you that your keystrokes may be recorded.
I do find the comment that sports reporters access may disrupt security in Tibet hilarious. China has been trampling on the Tibetan people for years.
If the US did not owe China billions of dollars, we would give a rip. Hence why Bush is going to the opening ceremonies and other European leaders are not. We are beholden to China for manufacturing and debt holding.
It is sad that China was given the Olympics, but who would expect the IOC to not be political and take cash in exchange for the games?
Score: 0
|