Chinese Net Surveillance Gets Personal

Oh, that cute little cuddly bunny! Surely he or she wouldn’t want to control what you’re allowed to see online, right? Well, this is a screenshot from a little piece of Windows software called Green Dam Youth Escort. As of July 1, every Windows PC sold in China will have to have this piece of software installed on it. According to Chinese officials, the software is designed to protect Chinese youth from “pornography and violent content” online. In the past, that’s generally been a smokescreen for a major new push to curtail Internet freedom in China. As China web-watcher Rebecca McKinnon notes in this week’s Technology Podcast: “[Green Dam Youth Escort] takes censorship down to the level of the individual computer.” But already there are reports that the software is vulnerable to hack attacks. Imagine millions of Chinese zombie computers churning out Spam. Not pretty. Listen to the podcast:

Also in this week’s podcast, we take some time to delve into the use of video replay technology in sports. In particular, we look at that most international of sports, soccer. So far, the so-called beautiful game has resisted the use of video replay, despite calls from many quarters to institute it. We’ll hear arguments for and against.

We end with a story about Google Earth. Not long ago, some scientists working in London found a great green glob while looking at a Google Earth map of Mount Mabu in Mozambique (left). Turns out, it’s a rain forest that no one really knew existed. So, the Royal Botanic Gardens sent a team down to investigate, and they found a treasure trove of what are believed to be new species of plants and animals. We’ll take you to the “Google Forest” on Mount Mabu on the podcast.

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(Top screenshot from Wikimedia Commons. Bottom picture by Tom Timberlake, courtesy of Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew)