Here is an article that I found today 6/13/05 about Microsoft's kowtowing to the Communist Chinese government and blocking words like "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights." If someone using Microsoft's China-based Internet portal tries to use those words, they will not be able to and will receive a message telling them they are not allowed to use such profanity.
That a country from the USA would do such a thing boggles my mind. Obviously money is much much more important than the ideals our founding fathers wrote into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Even our much vaunted cry to spread freedom and democracy is only so much paper and rationalizations.
I hope that another guiding light appears in the word, a guiding light that really will represent freedom and democracy. The experiment here has failed, and traitors to our ideals like Microsoft can make money hand over fist by denying "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights" to the rest of the word, while in the US there is no longer even any money for basic services like school buses or paper or pencils for the classrooms (even in a supposedly wealthy city like San Francisco in a supposedly wealthy state like California in the supposedly wealthiest nation the world has ever seen).
Years ago (2000 to be exact) my friend Taigen Dan Leighton held a memorial service for American Democracy. I thought that was rather funny but also a bit over the top at the time. I no longer think so. Now I think it was very prophetic (in the sense of the Hebrew prophets - not mere fortune-telling) of him. Our country was to be a shining light on a hill - now we throw blankets over the lights of others so that we can serve Mammon.
And yes, I noted that the House passed a Global Internet Freedom Act in 2003. More paper, unless it is enforcef and unless that act has real teeth. And even if it does, why do a bunch of French reporters need to remind the Unites States of America of it's duty? The reason is that we are greedy for the Chinese market on the one hand, and afraid of China's military might on the other. And on the third hand, we are growing ever more reliant on Chinese investments or so I've heard, just as Saudi Arabian investments have become so integral to certain sectors of our economy (yes, the same country whose main import after oil is Wahhabism and the terrorists who kill American soldiers every day). We are now captives of our enemies, and willingly sell-out our heritage of freedom democracy, seperation of church and state, human rights, and all the other ideals which we have tried to spottily uphold over the last 200 + years.
Here is the article:
BEIJING (AFP) - Users of Microsoft's new China-based Internet portal have been blocked from using the words "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights" in an apparent move by the US software giant to appease Beijing.
Other words that could not be used on Microsoft's free online blog service MSN Spaces include "Taiwan independence" and "demonstration".
Bloggers who enter such words or other politically charged or pornographic content are prompted with a message that reads: "This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word for this item".
Officials at Microsoft's Beijing offices refused to comment.
Internet sites in China are strongly urged to abide by a code of conduct and self-censor any information that could be viewed by the government as politically sensitive, pornographic or illegal.
For many Chinese websites, such content also includes news stories that the government considers unfavorable or does not want published.
New regulations issued in March now require that all China-based websites be formally registered with the government by the end of June or be shut down by Internet police.
Microsoft formed its portal joint venture with China's state-funded Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd (SAIL) last month to launch the MSN China web portal.
Microsoft is not the only international tech company to comply with China's stringent Internet rules.
Yahoo! and Google -- the two most popular Internet search engines -- have already been criticized for cooperating with the Chinese government to censor the Internet.
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) earlier said it "deplores the irresponsible policies of United States Internet firms Yahoo! and Google in bowing directly and indirectly to Chinese government demands for censorship".
It has called on the United States to apply the principles of its Global Internet Freedom Act on its private sector's activities in "some of the world's most repressive regimes".
The Global Internet Freedom Act, passed by the US House of Representatives in July 2003, aims to combat online censorship imposed by governments around the world.
In their efforts to conquer the Chinese market, Yahoo! and Google are "making compromises that directly threaten freedom of expression," RSF has said.
Posted by Ryuei at June 13, 2005 10:16 AMRyuei:
I'm afraid you're right. Many politicians who probably started out with high ideals have become corrupt. They are two-faced greed mongers who are in the pocket of big business and out for themselves first, while trying to mantain a public persona of dignity and statesmanship. It's not democracy anymore - it's capitalism, exploitation, and the justfication of greed.
Microsoft is all about greed. Bill Gates - who calls the shots there, regardless of his anti-trust forced demotion has been loathe to part with his billions. Despite his fabulous wealth, he's no philanthropist. Gates father had to plead with him to fund medical care and vaccines in Africa. But he's just one person. The world has fallen into darkness and perverseness where killing is necessary, greed is good, and immorality is hot.
From a Buddhist perspective, I find this era totally connsistent with Shakyamuni's perdictions, Nichiren's warnings about the latter day, and the Vedic myths of Kali Yuga. I don't think it matters in the long run that Microsoft and others capitulated to the Chinese. They can't sensor everything and the greatness of democracy and freedom will spread there. They may not want a new system as ours has become a stagnant cesspool. Human right? America is very bipolar when it comes to human rights. Bombing people seems like a contradiction of human rights. We accuse the Chinese of human rights violations but ignore the Amnesty International admonitions about America's conduct.
What an age to be alive.
Charles
Posted by: Charles at June 13, 2005 11:46 AM