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China's web users fear losing tools to bypass 'Great Firewall'
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Aug 6, 2017


Chinese civil rights blogger handed four years in jail
Beijing (AFP) Aug 4, 2017 - A Chinese blogger who meticulously documented public protests around the country was sentenced to four years in prison Friday as Beijing continues a crackdown on civil rights defenders.

Lu Yuyu was found guilty of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" by a court in the southwest city of Dali, Yunnan province, his lawyer Xiao Yunyang told AFP.

The same charge has been used to prosecute dozens of activists and political dissidents since Chinese President Xi Jinping took office in 2012.

A former migrant worker, Lu and his girlfriend, Li Tingyu, undertook the demanding task of cataloguing labour strikes and other workers' demonstrations across China.

The couple published an exhaustive compilation of these incidents under the alias "Not the News", offering a rare, comprehensive record of how labour tensions were rising.

Lu and Li were arrested in June 2016. Months later, they were awarded the Reporters Without Borders-TV5Monde Press Freedom Prize in the "citizen journalists" category.

AFP was not able to confirm whether Li is still being held in custody.

Xiao told AFP that Lu, who pleaded not guilty, has already filed to appeal his sentence.

"He maintains his innocence," Xiao said, noting that Lu's current mental state was "not bad."

"The four-year sentence of Lu Yuyu is very worrying since he did nothing but compile information that was already publicly available," William Nee, a China researcher at Amnesty International, told AFP.

"Although, ironically, the Chinese government still brands itself as socialist and pro-worker, this harsh sentencing probably indicates that the authorities are willing to crack down on labour rights activists and their supporters."

Working conditions have generally improved over China's more than three-decade economic boom. But many labourers, who often leave their rural homes for menial factory jobs, are still victimised by employers.

According to the Hong Kong-based nonprofit China Labor Bulletin (CLB), there were nearly 2,800 strikes and protests in China in 2015 -- more than in the previous four years combined.

Many of the protests erupted over unpaid wages.

"Lu's sentence is deeply troubling," Keegan Elmer, a CLB researcher, told AFP. "(Lu and Li) provided all of China, officials included, with a glimpse into the reality on the ground."

But "targeting Lu has had absolutely no effect on the ability of workers across the country to do what they have been doing constantly in recent years -- organising online."

Three prominent labour rights lawyers were handed suspended prison sentences in September for "disturbing the social order."

Enterprising internet users in China fear the tools they use to tunnel through the country's "Great Firewall" may soon disappear, as Beijing tightens its grip on the web.

Tens of millions of people are estimated to use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass Chinese internet restrictions -- getting access to blocked websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Beijing has for years turned a blind eye to these holes in its Great Firewall, but recent events suggest the virtual tunnels may soon be bricked up.

In January China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced it would be banning the use of unlicensed providers of the services.

In the months since the rule's announcement, rumours have swirled that a crackdown was coming, but there was little clarity on what exactly the rule meant and how, or even if, it would be implemented.

In the past few weeks, however, omens of significant tightening seem to be everywhere.

Several luxury hotels in Beijing have said they will stop using the tools, which once provided unfiltered Internet as a convenience to their customers.

On Thursday, a cloud service provider in the capital notified users that it would practise shutting down and reporting VPN providers on the orders of Beijing's Public Security bureau.

Tech giants Apple and Amazon, too, have moved to limit their customers' access to the tools in China in what has been seen as a voluntary move to get ahead of the impending crackdown.

On Sunday, Apple said it was removing a number of the programs from its app store, while Amazon's Chinese partner said that customers would no longer be allowed to use "illegal" VPNs on its cloud service.

"There have been many rounds of government murmurings about VPN crackdowns, and foreign and Chinese businesses had grown used to only minor or temporary restrictions," said Graham Webster, a senior researcher scholar at Yale Law School.

But "this time appears different."

-- 'You cannot lock the heart' --

For now, however, it still remains unclear who will be able to access VPNs and under what circumstances, a situation that has left both companies and regular users on tenterhooks.

Ordinary people have reacted to the new rules with a mixture of annoyance and quiet defiance.

"You've blocked the last way to watch US TV dramas, as well as my Facebook friends!" one user of China's Twitter-like Weibo platform said after the Apple announcement.

"You can lock my cellphone, but you cannot lock my heart."

Firms are casting around for information about the developments and have expressed alarm at the potential impact on the way they do business.

In a statement, the European Chamber of Commerce told AFP it "has not seen any updated official document concerning restrictions on VPN use by companies," adding that in a recent survey of its members almost half expressed concern that the "continued strengthening of measures to tighten Internet control and access are having an even bigger negative impact on their companies".

"Our members' success depends on instantaneous access to information worldwide, and the ability to freely communicate with affiliates, suppliers and customers around the world," William Zarit, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement to AFP.

"Recent regulatory developments, including limiting VPN use, have created uncertainty for cross-border data communication."

Apple has come under fire for bowing to the rules, but in an earnings call Tuesday CEO Tim Cook said the firm had to follow local laws.

He said Apple was "hopeful that over time the restrictions we're seeing are lessened, because innovation really requires freedom to collaborate and communicate".

-- 'Tighten Internet control' --

Analysts said that Beijing was likely not looking to choke off VPNS completely, but was instead seeking to control them more tightly.

James Gong, an expert on Chinese cyber law at Herbert Smith Freehills, said that the regulations are not targeted at companies.

The government can "shut things down, but that's not their purpose," he said.

Instead "they want to drive all the traffic through the network operators so all of the connections will be transparent to them".

Paul Triolo, head of global technology at the Eurasia Group, said he believes that the ultimate goal is not to cut off all VPNs but to "get visibility on (their) use so that they know what is going in and out and can turn off selectively if they want to or need to".

In a statement to AFP last month, MIIT explained that under the new rules, companies will only be allowed to rent VPN services from "telecommunications operators that have set up an international communications entry and exit office in accordance with the law".

Previously released MIIT regulations state that only state-owned telecoms can set up the offices, effectively guaranteeing that all licensed VPNs are operated by the state.

A representative from state-owned telecom China Unicom confirmed to AFP that it was legally allowed to rent VPN services to businesses, as long as they provide proof of registration in China.

"It's highly unlikely that all VPN access would be eliminated," Yale's Webster said, but added in the future the software might be increasingly "expensive and government-controlled".

Apple's China problem highlights conundrum for tech sector
San Francisco (AFP) Aug 6, 2017 - Apple's decision to bow to Chinese officials by removing apps to sidestep online censorship underscores the dilemma faced by US tech companies seeking to uphold principles while expanding their business.

The iPhone maker is the latest from Silicon Valley to face a conundrum in balancing their value for human rights and free expression against a government intent on controlling online content.

Apple this week acknowledged it had removed applications for so-called VPNs or virtual private networks, despite objections.

"We would rather not remove the apps, but like in other countries, we obey the laws where we do business," Apple chief Tim Cook said during an earnings call.

"We are hopeful that over time, the restrictions we are seeing are loosened, because innovation really requires freedom to collaborate and communicate, and I know that is a major focus there."

The prospect of Apple scoring a hit with a 10th-anniversary iPhone model in the months ahead appeared to outweigh backlash from online rights activists who criticized the world's most valuable technology company for not standing up for online freedom.

"There is a belief that millennials really want companies to be more active in protecting people's rights and free speech," Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group told AFP.

"There is obviously no connection between the rhetoric and buying behavior at this point."

Chinese internet users have for years sought to get around the so-called "Great Firewall" restrictions, including blocks on Facebook and Twitter, by using foreign VPN services.

"If other companies follow Apple's lead, it could soon be much harder for people in China to access information freely online," Amnesty International said in a blog post.

"Businesses have a responsibility to respect international human rights law... We would have expected a more robust stance from Apple, a company that prides itself on being a privacy champion."

- Under pressure -

Cook maintained that the App Store in China remained stocked with VPN apps, including creations from developers outside that country.

A commercial VPN securely relays internet communications through a private channel, hiding it from locals networks and, potentially, censors.

"This wasn't a choice they really wanted to make, and I'm not sure what they could have done about it," analyst Enderle said of Apple.

"They are not doing well in China, and ticking off the leaders would certainly not help."

Apple and Chinese censors will ultimately "face a barrage of pressures" from each other and from technology users in China, US-based internet rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in an online post.

"If Apple makes too great a stand against China's laws, it could be thrown out of the country," Eva Galperin and Amul Kalia of the EFF said in post.

"But if China pushes its censorship system too hard, it will have to face the growing frustrations of its own elite."

They reasoned that there was hope the crackdown on VPNs in China would recede when the political climate there improves.

- Android upside? -

There is a history of US internet stars being humbled in China.

Yahoo a decade ago wound up having to make amends after going along with Chinese officials demanding help some identifying pro-democracy advocates who used Yahoo online message boards.

Microsoft has been doing business in China for some 20 years, staying within guidelines set by the government.

Seven years ago, Google pulled its search engine out of mainland China in a rare stand against censors and for internet privacy.

"Google stood up and left, and now they aren't a power in China," Enderle said of the cost of the move.

CYBER WARS
UK security researcher 'hero' accused of creating bank malware
San Francisco (AFP) Aug 3, 2017
A British computer security researcher hailed as a hero for thwarting the "WannaCry" ransomware onslaught was in US custody on Thursday after being indicted on charges of creating malware to attack banks. Marcus Hutchins, known by the alias "Malwaretech," was charged in an indictment dated July 12 and unsealed this week by federal authorities in Wisconsin. The US Justice Department said ... read more

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