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1.  

   Damned if you do...

   

   Rob R. (profile), May 27th, 2009 @ 8:22am

   
   

   and damned if you don't.
   
   I'm glad censorship is not in effect here in the US - yet.

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2.  

   News from the Future...

   

   Ima Fish (profile), May 27th, 2009 @ 8:26am

   
   

   Beijing China - Associated Press - May 28, 2009: Members of China's Beijing Court were arrested today for treason and anti-governmental activities, including ruling in favor of a known anti government activist. Trials were conducted this morning where each judge was found guilty. Executions are set for this afternoon.

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3.  

   hmmm

   

   Designerfx (profile), May 27th, 2009 @ 8:49am

   
   

   This is quite interesting. Although a long stretch I wonder if people will consider this the first step towards fighting censorship in a way?

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4.  

   Re: News from the Future...

   

   Tgeigs (profile), May 27th, 2009 @ 8:57am

   
   

   I was thinking the EXACT same thing. Either that or that they were going to use this as an excuse to further sieze control over the ISP (if they aren't already in total/complete control).
   
   Nothing says "you should let us nationalize this company" like "Hey, we're just doing it to protect your freedom". in fact...that sounds kinda familiar.

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5.  

   Makes Me Wonder...

   

   Anshar, May 27th, 2009 @ 9:17am

   
   

   just how specific or vague China's laws are in defining "illegal content". After all, for an ISP to provide proof of the content should be no effort at all. That leads me to assume the trouble was with proving the illegality of that content.

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6.  

   hmmm

   

   Feeble, May 27th, 2009 @ 11:43am

   
   

   >The case didn't directly involve the government What the heck are talking about. FTA: "A Beijing judge has ruled that an internet hosting company was wrong to close a prominent government critic's website over allegedly illegal content"

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7.  

   Re: Damned if you do...

   

   sea man, May 27th, 2009 @ 12:22pm

   
   

   Sure it is. Just look at Craigslist for one. I'm sure there's more.

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8.  

   Re: hmmm

   

   Mike Masnick (profile), May 27th, 2009 @ 12:31pm

   
   

   >The case didn't directly involve the government What the heck are talking about. FTA: "A Beijing judge has ruled that an internet hosting company was wrong to close a prominent government critic's website over allegedly illegal content"
   
   The case was between the guy and the ISP, not the gov't. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.

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9.  

   

   Anonymous12, May 27th, 2009 @ 1:16pm

   
   

   This isn't that surprising actually. The Chinese court system is trying to establish itself. Lots of things are promised in China's constitution, that the Communist Party has no intent to enforce. The courts however, have been trying to become more legitimate, and due to the complicated and often disjointed structure of China's legal system, this is the result. China's courts are probably currently the only place in China to get a fair shake actually. It's complicated, but this basically is due to the difficulty in managing ove 1 billion people. The Communists can allow both things (semblences of Democracy and Authoritarian rule) to some extent, because they are forced too. They constantly are balancing how far is too far. If they don't let some form of justice occur, they know they could be put in a precarious position, so they're constantly adjusting the balance of power, while always holding the reigns at the national committee level. Simple isn't it? ;)

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10.  

    

    Anonymous12, May 27th, 2009 @ 1:20pm

    
    

    This also has to do with what we don't know. The officials being criticized could have gotten on the wrong side of the national authorities, or were doing something that didn't fit with the Communist Committee's plans, so the criticism is allowed. It isn't actual freedom of the press, but it is manipulated by the Central Committee to APPEAR that way. It's a very cleaver means of affecting control of the population, while at the same time coddling them. By allowing a little criticism, they hope to stem the tide of the millions.

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11.  

    

    Anonymous12, May 27th, 2009 @ 1:20pm

    
    

    This also has to do with what we don't know. The officials being criticized could have gotten on the wrong side of the national authorities, or were doing something that didn't fit with the Communist Committee's plans, so the criticism is allowed. It isn't actual freedom of the press, but it is manipulated by the Central Committee to APPEAR that way. It's a very cleaver means of affecting control of the population, while at the same time coddling them. By allowing a little criticism, they hope to stem the tide of the millions.

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12.  

    Re:

    

    Farnsworth, May 27th, 2009 @ 6:06pm

    
    

    I would imagine governing a billion+ people be hard regardless of the political system.

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13.  

    Precedent?

    

    Lawrence D'Oliveiro, May 28th, 2009 @ 2:07am

    
    

    The case would only create a bind if it set a precedent. I'm not sure if Chinese courts work on the principle of precedent, the way Anglo-Saxon ones do. Lots of European ones don't, for example.

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