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-CHINA: Downloading Trouble from the Internet
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 17:02:14 -0500
From: Barry Steinhardt <Barrys@aclu.org>
Subject: -CHINA: Downloading Trouble from the Internet
To: gilc-plan@gilc.org
Reply-to: gilc-plan@gilc.org
Title: TECHNOLOGY-CHINA: Downloading Trouble from the
Internet
BEIJING, Jan 13 (IPS) - Chinese leaders are caught between
the desire to pull the country to the forefront of
information technology, and caution dictated by concern
about security breaches and political activity on the
Internet.
Indeed, while China advocates the desire to be a high-
technology country, it has had to grapple with the problems
that come with freeing up technology as well as trying to
regulate it across this vast country.
According to China's public security departments, illegal
activities involving computers and the Internet have gone up
by 30 percent annually in recent years.
A recent report says 95 percent of China's network
management centres with Internet access have been attacked
by hackers from both home and abroad. As in the other
places, banking, financial, and securities institutions are
the main targets.
Also as in other countries, many hackers are youngsters.
Recently, a 13-year-old middle school student in China's
Inner Mongolia autonomous region was arrested for hacking.
However, he was immune from legal action because he was
below the age of 14.
Such cases are no longer new these days in China, where
almost every day the newspapers report similar incidents.
A few months ago, two people were sentenced to death in east
China's Jiangsu province for transferring 2.6 million yuan
to their own account from a local bank via a computer
network.
But by far most alarming problem for the Chinese government
is the fact that dissidents have been using computers and
the Internet for their cause.
A Shanghai software entrepreneur was tried in December for
providing 30,000 e-mail addresses to 'VIP Reference', an
electronic magazine based in Washington DC that circulates
material on democracy movements and issues.
It is e-mailed into China everyday, finding its way to
dissidents, ordinary citizens as well as senior Chinese
officials.
Dissident groups, especially overseas, say they are able to
get through Internet firewalls and barriers put up to
prevent Chinese from accessing one-line news and opinions
that may conflict with official views.
In short, China is has had to temper its aims of becoming a
modern technology power with the risks inherent in this
campaign, even as Internet use continues to grow.
The China Internet Network Information Center, which surveys
network users, reports that people aged from 21 to 35 form
the largest group of users. This is almost 80 percent of
some two million Chinese users, but the centre had no
estimate for the number of hackers.
Internet use in China has surged from just 10,000 five years
ago to 1.17 million last year, and could reach 5 million by
2000. ''The growth rate has exceeded the world average,''
said Mao Wei, director of the China Internet Network
Information Centre.
The Internet was introduced by China's scientific
institutions in 1986 through long-distance dialing, but
Internet service entered its second stage in 1994 when
Chinese Academy of Sciences established a Computer Network
Information Centre.
So far China has four public servers that have been approved
by the state, and through which individual servers can
directly connect to the Internet.
China's first Internet cafe appeared in Shekou, Shenzhen in
1993. Beijing now has nearly 200, but Shanghai is still the
leader with more than 400 since 1996.
In 1996, the State Council introduced interim provisions for
the management of the Computer Information Internet Network.
These provisions say: ''No unit or individual, who
subscribes to the Internet, may engage in criminal
activities endangering national security through its use''
and provide penalty clauses for offenders. They also ban
hacking, spreading computer viruses and disseminating
''vicious information''.
Dissident groups, especially overseas, say they are able to
get through Internet firewalls and barriers put up to
prevent Chinese from accessing one-line news and opinions
that may conflict with official views.
Some groups have resorted to e-mailing material from
different addresses, to dodge detection. But this remains a
tricky endeavour, not least because distribution of
''subversive'' material could mean legal trouble.
But Zhu Lin, a student from China's prestigious Qianghua
University, says: ''In an attempt to stop 'unnecessary
elements' coming in to the country, the government keeps on
blocking the websites of different organisations from
abroad. But it is not so far able to cope with the problems
inside.''
To safeguard national security and penalise hackers, China's
latest criminal law has added new provisions to combat
computer- related crimes.
Glitches or not however, China is determined to forge ahead
with information technology and is preparing for its first
international exhibition of Internet-related products and
technology in June.
Its huge market continues to woo some of the world's biggest
software companies.
Microsoft established its office in China last year and has
already spread its links to various sectors including
education.
In late November, Microsoft offered 12 million U.S. dollars
in software to 50 Chinese universities and pledged to help
train Chinese computer professionals, and started its
authorised academic training programme.
(END/IPS/ap-cr-hd/pa-js/js/99)
________________________________________________________
Barry Steinhardt 212 549 2508 (v)
Associate Director 212 549 2656 (f)
American Civil Liberties Union Barrys@aclu.org
125 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
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