China requires Internet users to register names

[Urkidding]

Just to keep this fair 'n balanced...

 

We've been correlating MAC addresses, source routers, email addresses, and various Internet postings for many years. That's the basis of network security forensics. There are hoops for officials to jump through but if you say "FU!" loudly enough, they can come and get you here too.

 

Yea...but if you open a brand new account on yahoo, park yourself at Micky D's or Coffee Cabano... you can send out a whole slew of e-mails, post to boards etc... and leave in an instant. It only will fall on the owner of that IP address.

 

Mostly true. ...but there are cameras everywhere these days and if the offense is egregious enough, they'll probably find you.

 

Hell, they were waiting for a guy here in Eureka who found & picked some pot about 20 miles into a wilderness area. They walked up to him as he was re-fueling after coming out of the woods. Of course, this is a border area, but ... just sayin'

 

You're right - Big Brother is watching everywhere...even at my house!

[Randy W]

More from the Global Times

 

Trust must be regained for real name online registration to work

 

The real name registration is just like of any of these programs—theoretically, if you don't do anything wrong, there should be nothing to worry about. What makes people worried though, in the U.S. as well as in China, is if the authorities abuse the program and use the information they collect to crack down on innocent people.

 

Such a possibility was high in China before but it may not be as high now.

 

The new administration has sent out a tentative signal that it may be more tolerant to different voices by allowing CCTV to cover some controversial news such as the demolition of tombs in Zhou Kou City and allowing some critical comments that directly name the new leaders to remain online.

 

Of course, these gestures may not be a guarantee for a tolerant future. But there is also a practical reason for hope in the long run.

 

Before the new administration was formed, the Chinese government had already been facing an increasingly difficult challenge — the collapse of trust of the general public in the official media and official propaganda. It had reached a point that when there are different narrations of an incident, people would automatically choose to believe the unofficial one. Several major domestic media outlets published articles on this subject indicating the government had realized the problem.

 

To erase all the unofficial narrations, even with real name registration, may still be a mission impossible in today's China where people are much more hungry for and savvier about information. Even if it could be done, it would only reduce trust in the official version of events further. And it is hard for me to imagine that the government is launching a new policy to achieve a goal like this.

 

Rebuilding the trust is the alternative. And the real name registration policy could be a perfect harbinger for this. If people could see that the government keeps its word, and no one suffers if they make critical comments provided they aren't going to trigger violence, this goal can be achieved.