Most Chinese-language blogs and microblog messages emphasize  the disastrous outcomes that the bill could bring. What people worry about most are bill's endorsement of surveillance by web services and Internet companies to prevent “infringing” content, and the implications for individual privacy. A post written by blogger Richard (pseudonym) on the Taiwan-based website inside.com.tw introduces key concepts of SOPA and asks readers to imagine what it will be like to live under the bill. This post has been widely circulated around websites  Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China:

“試想著有一天你在台灣，過著像這樣的生活：各網站必須被迫和政府合作接受審查，你平日每天要上的網站隨時可能會被封鎖，你寄出的每封信也都會受到審查，再也沒有私人隱私。大陸的狀況？唉，一聲長嘆啊！”

“Try to imagine that, one day, you’re in Taiwan and live a life like this: every website is forced to cooperate with the government and subject to be censored. The websites that you visit everyday can be blocked anytime. Every mail you send will also be censored. There is no more privacy. As for what will happen in China [under the same scenario]? Sigh…a long long sigh…”

The Taiwanese media company Next media Animation has even made an animated clip about SOPA, in which black-suited Hollywood businessman battle Internet company guys who are backed up by net users. SOPA is personified with cops using pepper spray against people who might use pirated works.

The comments from China weibo users are even more bitter, and scorning –both at the United States and Chinese government.

“s7evenz:看來咱們終於可以向老美輸出技術和價值觀了，咱們是強大的，先進的，無比正確的！”

“s7evenz: It looks like that we can finally export our technology and value to the Americans. We’re strong, advanced, and absolutely right!”

“SemKem:期待美國佬享受與天朝子民同等待遇”

“SemKem: I expect to see that the Americans enjoy the same treatment as what the subjects of the Holy Empire have.” [”Holy Empire” is a sarcastic term used by Chinese netizens for the Chinese government.]

Aside from those sarcastic comments, Chinese blogger Michael Anti sees the introduction of SOPA into legislation as a conflict between opposing interests among rival groups.

“簡單地說，SOPA是傳統媒體和消費品行業延長黃金歲月的保護傘，卻是互聯網行業和用戶權利的扼殺者，前者只是懷念舊時光，而後者卻要誓死消滅這個法案，因此反對者必然會全力廝殺到最後。隨著今後法案在眾院委員會的審查，對它的阻擊還會越來越強烈。”

“To put it simply, traditional media and consumer products companies use SOPA as a shield to prolong their golden days. However, the same bill will kill Internet industry and users. The former is only being nostalgic, but the latter has sworn to kill the bill. Therefore, the groups who oppose the bill will definitely fight to the last minute. The blow on the bill will be getting fiercer as it is scrutinized in the House committee.”

Anti also predicts that there is slim possibility for the bill to become law. However, “the introduction of the bill does also stage a grand legislation war,” Anti concludes.

Written by Weiping Li · comments (17)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Even if the candidates have seek approval, other netizens' sharing of their status without reporting to the Electoral Office would also be regarded as violation of the election regulation. Such practice would be a de facto bans of discussion about the candidates on social media.

According to Hong Kong Economic Journal's report, the REO told candidates of the district council that activities in Social Media such as Facebook would be counted as advertisement and have to report to the Electoral Office or else they risk the violation of Election Regulation. No 34(6), which demand candidate to submit their election pamphlets and advertisement before distribution. The violation of the Election Regulation would be subjected to a maximum penalty of 200 thousand fine and 3-years imprisonment. According to the regulation, election advertisement would include electron transmit messages, and they should submit a CD copy to the Electoral Office before distribution.

Any Facebook status update should be submitted to the Electoral Office two days before going online. If candidates forget to submit their “advertisement” to the Electoral Office, the case could be handed over to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for further investigation.

In addition, any third person, without prior approval forwarded the “political ads” would also violate the election law, which means netizen may have violated the regulation by pressing the “like” button of a candidate status in Facebook.

A few months ago, the Electoral Office planned to extend the “equal time” requirement from conventional media to online media during the election period. According to the draft regulation, all media, including online radio has to give equal time to each candidates for their program during the election period. Most netizens believe that the government wants to create a favor Internet environment for the pro-establishment and pro-Beijing political forces and the regulation amendment was stopped by netizens and pro-democratic forces in the consultation period.

Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (5)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

The bill, according to the government press release, aims at

introducing a technology-neutral exclusive right for copyright owners to communicate their works through any mode of electronic transmission, with ancillary criminal liability against unauthorised communication of copyright works to the public made in the course of business for profit or to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the copyright owners.

Below is a number of controversies raised by local bloggers and netizens:

1. the criminalization of all forms of electronic transmission of copyright work, including streaming, BT and any other future sharing and distributing technology, will affect technology innovation and consumer rights.

2. the criminalization of unauthorised communication of copyright works, including the incorporating the work of others into their own pieces in cases like political satire, Kuso, re-creation and cultural jamming will affect freedom of expression and result in highly selective prosecution.

3. the interpretation of “harm” from monetary loss to “prejudice and reputation” that affect the copyright owners is highly arbitrary.

4. the lack of “fair use” to protect creator of derivative works in the bill.

Copyright Amendment 2011 Legislative Council Brief

Full Text of Copyright Amendment Bill 2011

Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

However, legal harassment can be as harmful as political prosecution. In the past two years, a number of websites and online forums have been prosecuted by a local corporate, Oriental Press Group, for talking about the suspected drug-dealing history of two of its founding members.

In the past few years, the Oriental Press Group has kept sending out legal documents to domain owners, web-hosting ISPs making defamation claims. It has also sued about a dozen website operators for defamation, to name a few examples here:

The Chinese Wikipedia Website by Wikimedia Foundation

The Encyclopedia of Virtual Communities in Hong Kong by Wikia Inc.

Hong Kong Golden Forum by Fevaworks Solutions Limited

inmediahk.net by inmediahk.net Limited

Hong Kong's libel law

In Hong Kong, defamation is civil case, which means once a person has money to hire a lawyer, they can take legal action against anyone who makes open comment on them. The plaintiff has the responsibility to prove that what they have said are facts in order to successfully defend themselves. However, in other jurisdictions, such as in the U.S, the prosecutor has to provide evidence to prove what the plaintiff's comments do not have factual base.

The “defamation articles” pursued after by the Oriental Press Group are mainly about the drug trafficking history of its corporate founders - Ma Sik Chun and Ma Sik Yu. The two brothers was prosecuted by the Hong Kong Government in 1977 but jumped the bail and escaped to Taiwan in 1978. The incident was widely reported in local newspapers in the 70s [see jpg].

In order to stop websites and netizens from talking about the ignoble history, the Oriental Press Group starts prosecuting local and overseas websites and ISPs.

Charge against Wikimedia Foundation

In the case of Chinese Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, as an overseas registered company, had ignored the court summon and was absent from the trial. As a result the Oriental Press Group got a favorable ruling on paper, including damage claim and an injunction order in Aug 2010. Of course, the Hong Kong court's ruling cannot be executed in another jurisdiction, in the case of Wikimedia Foundation, in California.

For overseas registered company, it is comparatively easy to deal with such kind of legal harassment. So far, the so-called defamatory articles have not been removed from the Chinese Wikipedia website and the Wikia.com. However, for Hong Kong based company, especially those with very little finance resource, it is very intimidating.

The case of Hong Kong Golden Forum

Fevaworks, the operator of Golden Forum has spent an estimated amount of more than half a million Hong Kong dollars to defend themselves against the Oriental Press Group. Since it is rather difficult for ordinary citizens to present evidences that Ma Sik Chun and Ma Sik Yu have indeed committed the crime of drug trafficking and use the money to found the Oriental Press Group (as they have jumped the bail and have not been put on court for proper trial), the lawyer of Golden Forum defended the case with “innocent dissemination”. Eventually, the court ruled in favor of Fevaworks for two of the allegations and found the operator liable on one occasion when they took some eight months to remove the messages. The website operator has to pay a HKD100,000 damage cost to the Oriental Press Group.

However, the Oriental Press Group has continued to sue the website operator for 22 other defamation occasions and demanded the operator to disclose emails and I.P of the netizens involved. Such act, if successful, would destroy the online community in Golden Forum which has been very critical of the government and active in producing political satires against the Hong Kong government and pro-China political party.

The case of inmediahk.net

As a not for profit citizen media website, inmediahk.net's operator, inmediahk Limited (a locally registered company), cannot even afford to hire a lawyer to represent the company in the court. The case is now in process without any representative. In order to protect the website from further legal abuse, the website owner has reassigned an overseas operator, inmediahk LLC (registered in Nevada) to manage the website in early May 2011. However, a week ago, the U.S based ISP (RackSpace) that hosts the website has also received some legal documents from the Oriental Press Group and subsequently suspended the website for about 12 hours [The operator, inmediahk LLC, has to bare part of the responsibility as it has missed the urgent email sent by RackSpace]. Fortunately, upon some explanations, Rackspace has instantly restored the website back online.

Don't be intimidated

The intention for writing this post is to explain the current situation in Hong Kong and hence urge overseas ISPs or blog hosting websites not to be intimidated by the legal documents issued by the Oriental Press Group. It is a legal farce but unfortunately has resulted in a silencing effect in the local online world.

Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

According to the report by Apple Daily News, Ho Lok, a Chinese University Philosophy undergraduate opened a group, Against the Development of Luxurious Housing in Nan San Wai, in Facebook last week. Within a few hours, more than 360 people have joined in the group. But on the same night, his personal account in Facebook was suspended. “The notice said that my name is fake. Do we have to use real name to register? I registered the account one year ago and got its approval, why it suddenly decided to suspend my account? When I search in Facebook, there are still many Ho Lok online!”

The immediate effect is that Ho Lok cannot administer the group. He has resubmitted all his personal particulars to Facebook, hoping that it would reopen his account.

Two other administers of the group Kim Ching and Joanne also had their account suspended temporary. Kim Ching received a warning that he has abused the “Add Friend” function and had his account suspended for 4 hours. Joanne's account was suddenly logout by Facebook when she was trying to send out a message via the group. They suspect that harassment is the result of complaint made by property developer, but Hinderson Land Development Company claimed that they had never heard anything about the group.

Charles Mok, the Chairman of Hong Kong Internet Society pointed out that Facebook has been very arbitrary in their management of users' account. And because it only has one Asia Office, which is located in India, it is very difficult for the local users to monitor their service.

Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (10)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

The panel, which was moderated by Rebecca MacKinnon, also includes Jillian York, who focus on the case of Facebook, and Oiwan Lam, with some cases from Hong Kong, discusses content removal and deactivation across a number of platforms, as well as the importance of context and transparency in dealing with activist content on these platforms.

Written by Sami Ben Gharbia · comments (0)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

From the Great Firewall to the Myanmar Wide Web, Asia is well-known for its practices in Internet filtering. China has long taken the lead in blocking Web sites, filtering sites across the spectrum - from social to political content, pornography to Internet tools. The OpenNet Initiative (full disclosure: I'm involved) has been studying the Internet in Asia and around the world since 2002, and has just released its latest reports on Internet surveillance and controls in Asia, and specifically in China.

New research from the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) reveals accelerating restrictions on Internet content as Asian governments shift to next generation controls. These new techniques go beyond blocking access to websites and are more informal and fluid, implemented at edges of the network, and are often backed up by increasingly restrictive and broadly interpreted laws.

According to an recent ONI press release:

“Since 2006, many Asian governments have quickly realized the potential benefits of exploiting opportunities for conducting propaganda or public relations strategies over the Internet, even while cracking down on independent and critical voices thriving in these online spaces- an example of the evolution towards next generation controls,” said Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and one of four principal investigators at the ONI.

These controls were evidenced recently in ONI's analysis of China's latest attempt at controlling the flow of information, Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software mandated for pre-installation on PCs sold in China starting July 1. “However, even China's example demonstrates that restrictions on information are far from uniformly effective, and will meet resistance and be contested by the very groups they are intended to silence,” said Rafal Rohozinski, CEO of the SecDev Group and co-founder and principal investigator of ONI and ONI Asia.

The reports for Asia, as well as Burma, China, Pakistan, and South Korea will be featured in a forthcoming MIT Press volume, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Rights, Rule, and Power in Cyberspace, to be published by MIT Press (2010). Access Controlled will include a series of analytical chapters and regional overviews that contribute to the developing discourse around global Internet regulation and censorship raised in the first ONI volume Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, (Cambridge: MIT Press) 2008.

Written by Jillian York · comments (0)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

I have just announced the launching of Info-Rhizome: Report on Independent Media in the Chinese-speaking World at interlocals.net. Individual can download free copy from here.

The book is consisted of reports on the development of independent media in four regions: China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan, with special focus on regulation and control and citizen initiatives in counteracting information manipulation and media monopoly. Below a some quotes taken from our introduction:

Hu Yong: Audience revolt is a consequence of a legitimacy crisis in journalism… We thus see the emergence of new and decentralised forms of citizen engagement in government monitoring, political discussion, and agenda framing. In a word, “the previous audiences” have now become potential contributors to political dialogue, and potential actors, in the political scene.

Rebecca MacKinnon: How can independent media communities a across the Chinese-speaking world share experiences, support, and promote one another? …Will Asia's Chinese-language independent media largely focus inwards on their local communities and polities? Or can some transcend the nation-state and bring together various like-minded Chinese-speaking communities formed around interests or beliefs? What will then be the implications?

Feng Chien-san: In order to proclaim our media independent and alternative, we first need to equip ourselves with the spirit of Sisyphus and believe that, one day, we too will reclaim the sea and move the mountain. At the same time, we need to be prepared to penetrate the mainstream through both guerrilla and regular warfare, hand-in-hand like Ying and Yang, in both dream and in reality.

More information can be found here. All revenue generated from this book will be used to sustain interlocals.net and research publication on media activism. So you may consider ordering a printed copy for your affiliating organizations or institution to support the work.

Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

At present, the Hong Kong government adopts a complaint-driven approach to deal with obscene or indecent Internet content. The administrative body, Television and entertainment License Authority (TELA), would issue warning to local ISPs and OSPs for adding warning message or taking down indecent materials, while for obscene articles, it would hand over the case to the police.

In the government's consultation paper, it is stated that:

Given the emergence of new forms of media, particularly the growing popularity of the Internet, members of the public consider it important that measures are taken to protect youngsters from the dissemination of obscene and indecent materials on such new media systems.

In the consultation paper, suggestions include:

1. making it a legislative requirement for ISPs to provide filtering software;
2. tightening statutory controls, for example, web users are required to input their credit card data before getting access to webpage containing indecent materials to ensure that they have attained the age of 18;
3. regulating P2P communication.

The consultation has stirred up strong reactions from ISPs, OSPs and active internet users. ISPs pointed out that mandatory filtering service would increase the cost of ISPs service and suggested client's end filtering software instead.

OSPs, are worried that the implementation of the highly arbitrary categorization system on the internet would affect freedom of speech, especially on issues related with sex, gay and lesbian, vulgar expression for criticizing politics, etc. Moreover, the enforcement of the COIAO may open the path for application of more regulations on the Internet, such as Association Ordinance and Public Order Ordinance and the future National Security related set of law (article 23).

The P2P monitor will also violate internet users' privacy, as there is no way for the the users to check how their data would be used (similar to the case of the private data detention of the TOM skype in mainland China). They also demand the government to set up a mechanism for monitoring the abuse of private filters as organizations, like Nutongxueshe finds out that the existing private filters have filtered away websites that actively discuss the COIAO because they contain too many “sensitive words”, such as “sex”.

The moral debate within the society is very tense. As conservative Christian rights consider any form of nudity and sexual intimacy be classified as indecent (require warning messages and for 18 or above only) as it would induce “sinful thought” to youth and insist the exposure of sexual organ, explicit sex and non-heterosexual sexual behavior as obscene (have to be banned for distribution to all), they have launched campaign to push the government for imposing mandatory filtering service at ISPs level and banning the distribution of indecent articles to youth (under 18) and obscene article (to all, including adult). They mobilize responses via weekly sermon, Christian schools, social service organizations, etc. On the other hand, the liberal sector of the population call for a more open-minded attitude towards sex-related content and tolerance towards sexual minorities. Many suggest to adopt the “harm principle” rather than “moral principle” for banning articles. And they mobilize via facebook (e.g 1, please concern about the COIAO and 2, please don't impose your value onto others) and internet platform (such as the anti-censorship special page at inmediahk).

Moreover, human rights, media and progressive civic sector suggest to add human rights and free expression principle to the classification system, giving exemption to arts, literature, religion, science and public concern matter in the classification guideline.

Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang has also recently criticized the existing indecent censorship practice for confusing the administrative and legal function. He suggests to separate the two functions and reform the small circle adjudicator system into a jury system. Although the legal and human rights perspective has set a constructive direction for the reform, the public attention is still on moral debate and the fight between conservative Christian rights and liberals, in particular sexual minority groups.

After this round of consultation, the government will come up with a concrete proposal for reforming the COIAO and regulating the new media later this year.

Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (3)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

From the photo scandal's Wikipedia entry:

On 4 February 2008, A 29-year-old man became the eighth person to be detained in connection with the internet posting of nude photos. The man arrested is being detained at Ma On Shan police station. On the same day, the 23-year-old man, Sze Ho-Chun, arrested in Central on 2 February 2008 was charged with the dishonest use of computers with criminal intent, which has a maximum penalty of five years of imprisonment. The man appeared in Eastern Court on 5 February 2008. He denied the charge and was released on HK$50,000 bail. The case has been adjourned to 22 February 2008.

Pornography is openly sold by many street newspaper vendors in Hong Kong and versions of the photographs have been seen on the covers of most Chinese-language dailies every day since the first batch of photos appeared online two weeks ago, despite that under the city's Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, distribution is prohibited. Hundreds of netizens came out to protest [zh] the arrests today, calling for Tang's resignation and accusing Hong Kong police of inconsistency in their arrests.

Blogspot blogger Hey Let Me Kiss just happened to pass by the protest and brings us photos and a short report:

With the League of Social Democrats in the lead, a group of several hundred netizens marched this afternoon from Victoria Park to police headquarters, protesting police double standards in assigning large numbers to investigate the celebrity obscene photos as well as launching criticisms at Police Commissioner Tang King Sing, shouting in unison slogans calling for his resignation. Organizers say more than 500 people took part, but the police count was at 230.

Chris “hkdigit” Lee has even more. YouTube user pc8898 was among several to film the event; here are two clips from user tytong1022:

Edison Chen now seems to be in hiding, and the one public statement he's made so far, also on YouTube, has been the object of many angry blog posts and renditions. A Facebook group calling for Tang King Shing to go to arrest Chen in his native Canada features a number of photos which go even further.

Written by John Kennedy · comments (6)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper