[p2p-research] internet blackout in Urumqi

[Alex Rollin]

Some of the telcos in China are still owned by the state.

The state has a super-sophisticated system (Cisco, Siemens) for
filtering internet traffic regardless of the owner of the telco.

Regardless of the 'type' of data that people send, the Chinese state
has many thousands of people searching and analyzing sites.  The state
has usage stats for every site, and they can block access as needed.

The ability is to block p2p coordination is, IMHO, the single most
effective tactic for maintaining the effectively autocratic
government.  Businesses in China operate by the permission of the
government in a much more explicit manner than in any other country I
have ever lived in.  Thrive or go out of business based on the states
estimation of the value of your enterprise.

Riots are the most dangerous form of threat to the state because they
involve people gathering in physical space.  The riots can only be
stopped in physical space.  Telecommunications can spread the
rationale for the meeting and outpace the government's ability to
respond with force to quell the riot.

In a certain sense, life in China is a sort of 'guided riot.'  People
flow like fish through streams: into the metro, into the building, in
and out of the cities.  So many people!  People have a tendency there
to follow each other in order to find shortcuts and new pathways.
Riots, seen from this perspective, are a huge potential force!

Alex Rollin
http://alexrollin.com


On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 3:43 PM, Andy Robinson<ldxar1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder how China were able to do this but Iran and Honduras were not.
>  Possibly fewer mobile phones around?
> http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/07/07/information-on-riots-in-urumqi-slow-to-come-by/
>
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-- 
Alex
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.- Socrates