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posted by CoolHand on Monday December 28 2015, @06:19PM   Printer-friendly
from the big-brother-in-action dept.

Apple may have said that it opposes the idea of weakening encryption and providing governments with backdoors into products, but things are rather different in China. The Chinese parliament has just passed a law that requires technology companies to comply with government requests for information, including handing over encryption keys.

Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the controversial law is the Chinese government's attempt to curtail the activities of militants and political activists. China already faces criticism from around the world not only for the infamous Great Firewall of China, but also the blatant online surveillance and censorship that takes place. This latest move is one that will be view very suspiciously by foreign companies operating within China, or looking to do so.

http://betanews.com/2015/12/27/china-passes-law-requiring-tech-firms-to-hand-over-encryption-keys/

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 28 2015, @06:50PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 28 2015, @06:50PM (#281776) Journal

    "There is also a provision, as reported by Reuters, that "media and social media cannot report on details of terror activities that might lead to imitation,"

    That isn't ALL BAD. What happens when there is an atrocity here in the states? Every news agency in the nation carries gory details, 24/7 for days and weeks. How many of those mindless little boobies who have picked up a weapon and commited a mass murder were motivated by something similar that they had watched repeatedly? It's like they are keeping score. Each of them feels the need to kill more than those who have gone before. Copycat killings.

    The MSM should be indicted along with those who commit the crimes.

    There is free speech, and there is irresponsible reporting.

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  • (Score: 2) by naubol on Monday December 28 2015, @07:52PM

    by naubol (1918) on Monday December 28 2015, @07:52PM (#281802)

    I would not assume that anyone is capable of pontificating the loss of social good to not reporting these things and properly weighing that against the chance of glamorizing mass shootings. My feelings are that a great many Chinese people I know are rather sheltered about the truth of human nature and governments and this can cost them in a variety of interesting ways.

    Everyone wants to filter the press, and it is a good test of a person's reasoning to see if they can appreciate why it is a bad idea, even if the press is odious.

  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday December 28 2015, @08:10PM

    by isostatic (365) on Monday December 28 2015, @08:10PM (#281811) Journal

    That isn't ALL BAD. What happens when there is an atrocity here in the states? Every news agency in the nation carries gory details, 24/7 for days and weeks.

    While I agree that the US media is terrible -- they really seem to have done a number on the American public over Paris (does the average Trump voter know Paris is in France - home of the people that caused Freedom Fries - and not Paris Texas) -- banning freedom of speech IS ALL BAD.

    Your population, unlike the rest of the free world, seems hooked on this type of wall-to-wall coverage. That's a fault that runs deep into your culture, but it's not a problem with free speech.

    I'd be open to regulations that prevent fake news being passed off as "The Truth", and Fox is of course terribly guilty of this - invite a blowhard to come on and spread lies, then don't challenge them, passing off opinion as fact. That isn't free speech (Recent example [theguardian.com]). By all means Fox and Russia Today can say what they want, they shouldn't be allowed to pass it off as the truth though.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2015, @10:13PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2015, @10:13PM (#281884)

      they shouldn't be allowed to pass it off as the truth though.

      If only there was some kind of entity, a ministry perhaps, who could decide what is and what isn't allowed to be passed off as 'the truth'.

  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday December 28 2015, @08:30PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday December 28 2015, @08:30PM (#281818) Journal

    The MSM should be indicted along with those who commit the crimes. There is free speech, and there is irresponsible reporting.
     
      So Reddit deleting some posts is outrage inducing. [soylentnews.org] But literally limiting the freedom of the press would be OK?
     
    Well, you are consistant, at least. Just not in the way you probably think.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 28 2015, @09:00PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 28 2015, @09:00PM (#281841) Journal

      Irresponsible, I said. There are any number of things that I CAN do, that I have a "right" to do - but sometimes exercising my rights is irresponsible, so I don't do those things. I CAN spend my weekends at a bar, and drink up a couple hundred dollars each week, but it's stupid, so I don't. The media CAN spend it's time publishing tabloid level bullshit in quest of ratings, but that is irresponsible as well. And, that makes the MSM as guilty as anyone for the next round of copycat killings.

      • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday December 28 2015, @09:16PM

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday December 28 2015, @09:16PM (#281846) Journal

        Irresponsible, I said.
         
        No, what you said was "The MSM should be indicted along with those who commit the crimes."
         
        in·dict

        past tense: indicted; past participle: indicted

        formally accuse of or charge with a serious crime.

        "his former manager was indicted for fraud"

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 28 2015, @09:55PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 28 2015, @09:55PM (#281874) Journal

          Yes, I am accusing them. They are responsible. That doesn't exactly mean that I am willing to allow government to censor the press. It does mean that if the press were composed of honest men and women, they would take responsibility, and they would stop running all that sensationalist shit that we see in the news.