'Clouding' the Issue - the Great Firewall

[Greg.D.]

Amazon, too. While the directives are broad, for now it seems to be mainly about VPNs either as store apps or even hosting services that include VPN functionality:

 

Joining Apple, Amazon’s China Cloud Service Bows to Censors

 

 

 

A Chinese company that operates Amazon’s cloud-computing and online services business there said on Tuesday that it told local customers to cease using any software that would allow Chinese to circumvent the country’s extensive system of internet blocks. The company, called Beijing Sinnet Technology and operator of the American company’s Amazon Web Services operations in China, sent one round of emails to customers on Friday and another on Monday.

The emails are the latest sign of a widening push by China’s government to block access to software that gets over the Great Firewall — the nickname for the sophisticated internet filters that China uses to stop its people from gaining access to Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as foreign news media outlets.

The government has been intent on tightening controls domestically as well. It recently shut down a number of Chinese-run VPNs. New rules posted to government websites in recent days said Communist Party members can be punished for viewing illegal sites and that they must register all foreign or local social media accounts.

 

[Randy W]

But the English-language Amazon appstore site is not blocked and still offers an assortment of VPN software.

 

I think the hand-writing is on the wall for Western companies trying to operate in China - NOT for VPN's.

[Randy W]

Apple under fire from all directions - they DIDN'T just remove VPN's. in the WSJ

 

Chinese App Developers File Antitrust Complaint Against Apple

 

Complaint accuses Apple of monopolistic behavior by removing apps from App Store without detailed explanation

 

The complaint accuses Apple of engaging in monopolistic behavior by removing apps from the App Store without detailed explanation and charging excessive fees for in-app purchases. The complaint also alleges Apple doesn’t give details on why apps are removed and puts local developers at a disadvantage by not responding to queries in Chinese.

Lin Wei, an attorney at Beijing Dare & Sure law firm, said he filed the complaint on behalf of the developers Tuesday with the National Development and Reform Commission, which handles antitrust issues in China, and the State Administration for Industry & Commerce.

“There is a lack of transparency in the App Store operation,” Mr. Lin said. “At this stage, we think complaining to the Chinese regulators to get them involved is most ideal.”

 

 

[Allon]

Competition, competition, competition. China should know that by now.

[Randy W]

Facebook returns to China, albeit stealthily - in the NY Times

 

In China, Facebook Tests the Waters With a Stealth App

 

 

The Colorful Balloons app (left) and Moments (right).

 

 

Facebook approved the May debut of a photo-sharing app, called Colorful Balloons, in China, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s plans, who declined to be named because the information is politically sensitive. The app, which has not previously been reported, shares the look, function and feel of Facebook’s Moments app. It was released through a separate local company and without any hint that the social network is affiliated with it.

The stealthy and anonymous release of an app by a major foreign technology company in China is unprecedented. It shows the desperation — and frustration — of global tech companies as they try to break into the world’s largest online market. It also underscores the lengths they are willing to go, and their increasing acceptance of the idea that standards for operating in China are different from elsewhere.

. . .

Now Colorful Balloons gives the Silicon Valley company a way to see how Chinese users digitally share information with their friends or interact with their favorite social media platforms.

“We have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country in different ways,” Facebook said in a statement.

It is unclear whether China’s various internet regulators were aware of the app’s existence. The under-the-table approach could cause Facebook new difficulties with a Chinese government that has maintained strict oversight and control over foreign tech companies.

 

[Greg.D.]

Yeh, yeh ....

 

 

China's WeChat, Weibo and Baidu under investigation

 

 

The Cyberspace Administration said people had been using the three platforms to spread terror-related material, rumours and obscenities.

The breaches "jeopardised national security," the administration said.

 

 

China's Cyberspace Administration accused internet users of "spreading violence, terror, false rumours, pornography and other hazards to national security, public safety, social order" on the three platforms.

Baidu expressed "regret" and said it would "actively co-operate with government departments" and "increase the intensity of auditing", Reuters reported.

 

[Allon]

Damn, and I was just collecting a good bunch of Chinese cam girls.....

[Randy W]

The ADVANTAGE that China holds for Google . . .

 

I'll give you a hint - it's NOT cheap labor

 

in the WSJ (as cloned by FoxBusiness)

 

Google Builds China Workforce to Develop Artificial Intelligence

Alphabet Inc.'s Google is ramping up its presence in China, hiring engineers to specialize in technology's hottest corner: artificial intelligence.

The Silicon Valley behemoth has recently posted at least four AI-related jobs on its career site in Beijing, including a technical lead to develop a team to work on natural language processing, data compression and other machine learning technologies. Two of the jobs are related to machine learning in Google's cloud-computing operation.

Google Cloud currently doesn't operate in China. The company would need a local partner and special licenses to establish the business here.

Broadly defined, AI involves computers that learn from the information they process. China, with hundreds of millions of people connected to the internet and few qualms about privacy, is seen as having advantages over the U.S. as a place to advance parts of the technology.

"China has a lot of data from mobile payments, gaming, social, search and news," said Kitty Fok, China managing director at consulting firm IDC. "Technology companies like Google are keen to learn what's going on and getting large amounts of data to create AI algorithms is very important to them."

There are nearly 60 positions available in Beijing and Shanghai combined on the company's careers web page. A person familiar with the positions said Google is focused on hiring top talent and improving the quality of its algorithms.

Google pulled back from China in 2010 on concerns over censorship and after a cyberattack in which some of the company's proprietary computer code was stolen. Google said it had traced the attack to Chinese hackers. The company's search engine can be accessed here only by using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to bypass the government's complex internet filtering system, known as the "Great Firewall."

Even so, Google has continued to maintain some operations in China and some analysts have said they believe the company is looking to expand its presence. This past spring, the southern city of Wuzhen hosted a three-game rematch in the ancient strategy game of Go between Google's AI program AlphaGo and China's 19-year-old human world champion. At the event, Google Cloud executive Jia Li said she was looking to hire AI engineers in China to add to its more than 500 employees in Beijing and Shanghai.

While the Mountain View, Calif., company is building its workforce here, Chinese rivals are setting up AI research-and-development facilities in the U.S.

Earlier this year, Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. said it would open an AI center in Seattle to focus on speech recognition and natural language understanding. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. have R&D centers in Silicon Valley.

Yang Jie contributed to this article.

Write to Alyssa Abkowitz at alyssa.abkowitz@wsj.com and Liza Lin at Liza.Lin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 04, 2017 07:09 ET (11:09 GMT)

 

 

[Allon]

Artificial Intelligence? Now they are getting smart, or virtually smart.

[Randy W]

in the SCMP

 

Man jailed for selling VPNs to evade China’s ‘Great Firewall’

Fears among some VPN users on the mainland over whether they will also face punishment for using the services to get round internet censorship

PUBLISHED : Monday, 04 September, 2017, 1:20pm

 

 

 

Deng Jiewei, a 26-year-old from Dongguan in Guangdong province, was convicted of “providing software and tools for invading and illegally controlling the computer information system”, according to court documents posted on a website run by the Supreme People’s Court.

Deng had been selling two VPNs via his website since October 2015, and was first detained in August last year. He and a partner made nearly 14,000 yuan (HK$16,700) selling the software, which allowed users to “visit foreign websites that could not be accessed by a mainland IP address”, the judgment said.

. . .

“If selling a VPN means a conviction for ‘providing software and tools for invading and illegally controlling the computer information system’, then everyone here who uses a VPN to evade the Great Firewall can also be convicted of illegally invading or illegally controlling the computer information system, right?” one of the most liked comments on Weibo said.

VPN users in some parts of the mainland already face consequences from the local authorities.

Under new rules issued in March, people in Chongqing who use VPNs to access banned sites get a message on their computer telling them to disconnect, while those who generate profits of more than 5,000 yuan from using a VPN can be fined up to 15,000 yuan.

 

[Randy W]

from the Shanghaiist

 

 

Apple gives iCloud data for China users to state-owned firm

 

 

Apple has announced that its iCloud services in mainland China will be operated by a local, government-controlled company, starting at the end of next month.

The Silicon Valley tech giant contacted customers based in mainland China earlier this week, notifying them of a new set of terms and conditions, which included a clause stating that both Apple and a Chinese internet services company based in Guizhou would have access to all data stored on iCloud.

Apple said that those who did not want to have their iCloud data managed by the Chinese firm should deactivate their account on February 28th when the change takes place.

While Apple has said that iCloud accounts that were registered outside of mainland China will not be affected by this change, TechCrunch and other media outlets have found that a number of users whose iCloud accounts were opened in the US will have their data managed by Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD), a tech firm that is owned by the Guizhou provincial government.

 

If it makes you feel any better, GCBD has assured the Global Times that it will “obey the rules and regulations of the country and safeguard the security of users’ data.”

 

[Randy W]

from CGTN (I'll have to watch this later, myself)

 

"Multinationals Apologize for Web Gaffes"

 

Delta Airlines and Marriott Hotel sites shut down for not respecting Chinese sovereignty - never mind that the territories have separate governments, currency, and visa policies

 

[Greg.D.]

That is one formidable moderator. Excellent English and 10X more personality than the usual CCTV drones.

[Randy W]

That is one formidable moderator. Excellent English and 10X more personality than the usual CCTV drones.

 

 

She's been around a while, and was quite a looker - but she pretty well toes the "company" line, especially in this video.

 

They have an uphill battle to convince westerners that territories with separate governments, constitutions, visa policies, and monetary systems AREN'T actually COUNTRIES.

 

NOW those web sites have a major headache of how how to handle all that when the "country" is China - although I guess they could simply add a new field for "territory", and them COMBINE country and territory internally to the software.

 

http://p1.img.cctvpic.com/photoAlbum/page/performance/img/2015/2/15/1423964276865_525.jpg

[Greg.D.]

Well, Tibet should be no harder than any other province or autonomous territory.

 

But, then, call Hong Kong a "province" (to keep their DB table the same) and then they have another kind of problem. Taiwan: worse still.

 

Tian Wei! Still more of a looker than me.