In The News

Connecting Developing Nations

Eric Sylvers February 20, 2006
Cell phone company executives boast about how their services and economic development improve the quality of life in poor countries. However, delivering cellular technology to the developing world is a business proposition as well as a humanitarian one. The world has plenty of untapped markets – Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America – and no two are alike. Two-thirds of the world’s...

So Long Dalai Lama: Google Adapts to China

Joseph Kahn February 15, 2006
Free-speech advocates continue to reproach the world’s technology and media giants for ready cooperation with the Chinese government’s moves to censor the internet. Yahoo offered up information about users’ email accounts that led to the convictions of so-called dissidents in 2003 and 2005. Microsoft pulled the plug on a major blog that drew the ire of Chinese censors. Cisco sold equipment...

Chinese Censors of Internet Face “Hacktivists” in US

Geoffrey A. Fowler February 14, 2006
The Chinese government tries to maintain strict control over citizens’ access to the internet, but computer-savvy free-speech activists abroad are making that job more difficult. Among those activists is Bill Xia, a North Carolinian who distributes a program called “Freegate” that allows Chinese web surfers to circumvent their government’s online censorship. Designed by a Chinese-American,...

China and the Iranian Nuclear Crisis

Jing dong-Yuan February 6, 2006
China has joined the US, Britain, France, Germany and the EU in deciding the time has come to report Iran’s pursuit of nuclear power to the UN Security Council. Despite joining the unified front, China has expressed less anxiety over Iran’s actions and continues to press, along with Russia, for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. China depends on Iranian oil and political ties, and hesitates...

Fear of an American Internet

Markus Dettmer February 2, 2006
Despite millions of new internet users from all around the globe, US companies like Google continue to dominate the medium. These businesses invest heavily in research and design, and as a result continue to expand their reach of the internet. One ambitious new project that is raising eyebrows is Google Print, which is collaborating with some of the world’s top universities to publish their...

America Should Open Its Doors Wide to Foreign Talent

Craig Barrett February 1, 2006
Discussion about challenges in America’s immigration policies tends to focus on the millions of illegal immigrants. But the more pressing immigration problem facing the US today, writes Intel chairman Craig Barrett, is the dearth of high-skilled immigrants required to keep the US economy competitive. Due to tighter visa policies and a growth in opportunities elsewhere in the world, foreign...

The Basics: How to Outwit the World’s Internet Censors

Tom Zeller Jr. February 1, 2006
While China’s censorship of the internet receives increased attention, less publicized are the system’s imperfections. Relying on loopholes, greater freedom can be sought, even in a restrictive environment. One way individuals subvert a watchdog government is by surfing the web through a proxy server, which dissociates computer addresses from visited websites. In China, an underground network of...