Tuesday, May 22, 2007

lawsuit against China internet censorship

A Chinese open-source software programmer is suiting China Telecom because his website was blocked by the Great Firewall. In his post (English version), he complained:

In China, there is no clear, legal statement about the human right to know truth or to make approaches towards it. Moreover, legal suits may only involve direct stakeholders. You may not sue a legal entity with an indirect connection. The dynamic nature of the internet makes facts hard to prove.

...

Nobody knows officially who is responsible for the Great Chinese Firewall and nobody can help. And even if we did learn, according to Chinese law, I would most likely lack any direct legal relationship. So I would not be able to sue it.

However, I am a customer of China Telecom. This relationship can be demonstrated by my contract and by the bills I pay monthly. Using their equipment, I fail to access a website. A trace says the problem is inside them.

This trial will be held in Shanghai at 9:00AM (Beijing time, zone of UMT+8:00) May 29th. The place is No. 611 Ding Xiang Road, Pu Dong New District, Shanghai, China.


As a matter of fact, Ya.iyee.cn has been blocked for three days in most places of mainland China. I even even have no idea why they did it.


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