links for 2006-03-18

• ChinaTechNews.com: ICANN Says China Not Transferring Domain Names Onto Single Root
  "Commenting on the recent change that China has made towards its domain name system, Twomey said the change that China has made is mainly to build up their second-level domain name structure as other countries do. "We do not see they are transferring thei
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch ICANN netgovernance netaccess)
• China Withdraws Case Against Times Researcher - New York Times
  "Chinese authorities on Friday unexpectedly withdrew the state secrets case against a Chinese researcher for The New York Times, a surprise decision that may clear the way for his release and comes a month before President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit
  (tags: china humanrights freespeech)
• Good Morning Silicon Valley: Maybe we should just outsource our IT security, say to Dubai
  "Well, at least it's consistent. The federal government's doing a lousy job of securing its network infrastructure, according to a report to be released today by a key congressional oversight committee."
  (tags: security privacy surveillance)
• BBC NEWS | Business | Google Charm makes its debut
  "Google has just unveiled a new product. Called Google Charm, it was revealed to eight journalists at an unprecedented lunch in New York."
  (tags: google)
• Reporters sans frontières - China: Ten years in prison for online anti-government articles
  "Reporters Without Borders condemned a ten-year prison sentence handed down to Ren Zhiyuan, 27, for posting virulent anti-government articles online, including a tract entitled, “The path to democracy”."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch freespeech humanrights democracy)
• Surprise Release: Beijing to drop all charges again Zhao Yan (angrychineseblogger.blog-city.com)
  "it does not mean that he has been granted a 'get out of jail free' card."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch humanrights freespeech media)
• » The shift to Social Computing | Enterprise Web 2.0 | ZDNet.com
  "it appears that the two-way Web is increasingly moving the power out of the hands of trusted institutions and into the hands of everyday users"
  (tags: web2.0 techtrends democracy freespeech)
• » Information portability, trust, and an Online Software 'Bill of Rights' | Enterprise Web 2.0 | ZDNet.com
  "What I believe we need is something like an Online Software Bill of Rights. A simple, straightfoward statement that says that a user's data and hosting is always theirs and ready for the taking. "
  (tags: web2.0 trust business software humanrights)
• Judith Miller's New Excuse - The former Times reporter tells Vanity Fair the "slanderous" bloggers destroyed her. By Jack Shafer
  "Judith Miller has a new alibi—the blogs done her in!"
  (tags: blogs journalism media webcred)
• Stitching together Israeli identities from Guardian Unlimited: News blog
  by Global Voices Israel contributor Lisa Goldman
  (tags: gv-press globalvoices)

Comments

[mahathir_fan]

On the imprisonment of Ren ZhiYuan :

“According to the US-based Human Rights in China, Ren, a secondary school teacher in the eastern province of Shandong, was charged with posting several articles deemed subversive, including “The Path to Democracy” in which he asserted the right to resort to violence to overthrow tyranny.

These comments come under the heading of freedom of expression and we consider that you cannot condemn someone simply on the basis of their statements,” said Reporters Without Borders. "

Actually, Reporters Without Borders is wrong. The imprisonment does not violate China's freedom of speech laws. Human rights watch has stated that Ren attempted to overthrow the Chinese government by asserting "the right to resort to violence to overthrow tyranny".

The US supreme Court had set a precedent for such cases in Gitlow vs New York in 1925. Freedom of speech is a right, but if it is used to the purposes of overthrowing the government, then whoever does it can be prosecuted. Gitlow was prosecuted.

See: http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/140/
http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/burns3/medialib/docs/gitlow.htm

Some notable quotes:
"For present purposes we may and do assume that freedom of speech and of the press which are protected by the 1st Amendment from abridgment by Congress_ are among the fundamental personal rights and ``liberties'' protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment from impairment by the states."

"And, for yet more imperative reasons, a state may punish utterances endangering the foundations of organized government and threatening its overthrow by unlawful means. These imperil its own existence as a constitutional state. Freedom of speech and press, said Story (supra), does not protect disturbances of the public peace or the attempt to subvert the government. It does not protect publications or teachings which tend to subvert or imperil the government, or to impede or hinder it in the performance of its governmental duties. It does not protect publications prompting the overthrow of government by force; the punishment of those who publish articles which tend to destroy organized society being essential to the security of freedom and the stability of the state. And a state may penalize utterances which openly advocate the overthrow of the representative and constitutional form of government of the United States and the several states, by violence or other unlawful means."