• [104]  Boycotting the Media in Taiwan (09/30/2006)  (China Times)  For the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the Democratic Progressive Party, the Southern Taiwan Society (台灣南社) has stated that it will advise the reporters and SNG's from China Times, United Daily News, CTI TV, TVBS and ETTV to leave the scene.  They do nto want the "red media" to gather news at a "green" event.  If those media workers do not depart, the Southern Taiwan Society will surround them and shout slogans for people to refuse to watch "red media."  The Southern Taiwan Society also promises that their marshals will maintain order and they ask the people of Taiwan to behave with class, without using illegal and immoral acts such as shouting obscenities or applying physical force.  The Southern Taiwan Society said that only through legal and moral protests can a new and excellent nation be built.

... The damage from Japanese pornographic works is tremendous.  They cause some people to lose their stands.  For example, the legendary hero Chen Jinnan could never get the men to unite to oust the Manchurians and restore the Ming dynasty.  Meanwhile, Ran Asakawa made many more Chinese young men fall in love with her overnight.  When she was rumored to have died recently, many Chinese young men were so sad.   Japanese pornography is also causing some promising Chinese young men to die from anger when they detect Chinese elements in certain Japanese adult games and pornography.  One way or the other, it is all the fault of Japanese pornography.

Finally, I have to explain to Comrade Police Officer.  All the background knowledge in this essay were based purely upon hearsay.  I haven't watched any of it.  I haven't watched ...

P.S.  Who is Ran Asakawa (武藤兰/朝河蘭)?  "Brother, if you don't know Ran Asakawa, then you don't understand adult video no matter how many you have watched."

• [102]  Strip Gate in WoW (09/30/2006)  (MOP)  Yet another scandal has broken out in World of Warcraft.  This began with forum post in which a male WoW player wanted to take revenge against a female WoW player.  On July 29, the two met in person and had sexual relations.  Shortly afterwards, the female asked to split up.  On September 19, the male went to Chonginq to visit the female, who got a bunch of people to beat him up.  So the angry male has now posted photographs of the female on the Internet, together with her name, address, QQ number as well as logs of their QQ sessions.
  
  Reader comments: "When a girl wants to split up with him, he exposes her nude photos.  What a scary man ...!"  "This is just a QQ chat affair.  It has nothing to do with WoW.  If you want to condemn anything, it should be QQ.  F**k, what are you linking QQ chat with WoW.  If you don't understand WoW, you ought to shut the f**k up!  Be careful that you may get chopped to death one day without knowing why!!!"
   
  Here is my comment: "What makes you think any of this is true?  Maybe the guy just picked up the photos from somewhere else, made up some QQ conversations and used them to attack this gal.  This may not the same gal who is being named."

• [101]  The Shanghai Gang (09/30/2006)  Okay, so you are disappointed that I have nothing much to say about the fall of Chen Liangyu and his cohorts.  Hmmm ...  That should have been obvious if you were aware about my adversity about speculating on the fortunes of senior officials.  For the best explanation, please read Why I Don't Talk Chinese Politics.  To simplify matters, I am of the age that I lived through the age of the Cultural Revolution as a gullible young person.  As a result, I will never ever accept the superficial statement as to who did what wrong ever again for the rest of my life.  In that experience, every political fight had seemed to be about some battle over transcendent values (capitalist roaders versus proletariats, etc.) but it all turned out to be some sectarian struggle for power.  So why should I believe anything that the propaganda machine has to say now?
   
  However, I was interviewed extensively about the Shanghai gang and I spewed my guts on everything that I know.  I even sent in extensive photographic evidence.  So you can look forward to all that in the Sunday edition of Ming Pao (HK).  I promise that if Ming Pao won't print everything that I told them, I will state it right here on this website!

Singapore’s ‘Martyr,’ Chee Soon Juan.  July/August 2006.  By Hugo Restall, FEER.

Striding into the Chinese restaurant of Singapore’s historic Fullerton Hotel, Chee Soon Juan hardly looks like a dangerous revolutionary. Casually dressed in a blue shirt with a gold pen clipped to the pocket, he could pass as just another mild-mannered, apolitical Singaporean. Smiling, he courteously apologizes for being late—even though it is only two minutes after the appointed time.

Nevertheless, according to prosecutors, this same man is not only a criminal, but a repeat offender. The opposition party leader has just come from a pre-trial conference at the courthouse, where he faces eight counts of speaking in public without a permit. He has already served numerous prison terms for this and other political offenses, including eight days in March for denying the independence of the judiciary. He expects to go to jail again later this year.

Mr. Chee does not seem too perturbed about this, but it drives Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong up the wall. Asked about his government’s persecution of the opposition during a trip to New Zealand last month, Mr. Lee launched into a tirade of abuse against Mr. Chee. “He’s a liar, he’s a cheat, he’s deceitful, he’s confrontational, it’s a destructive form of politics designed not to win elections in Singapore but to impress foreign supporters and make himself out to be a martyr,” Mr. Lee ranted. “He’s deliberately going against the rules because he says, ‘I’m like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. I want to be a martyr.’”

Coming at the end of a trip in which the prime minister essentially got a free ride on human rights from his hosts—New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark didn’t even raise the issue—this outburst showed a lack of self-control and acumen. Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the man who many believe still runs Singapore and who is the current prime minister’s father, has said much the same things about Mr. Chee—“a political gangster, a liar and a cheat”—but that was at home, and in the heat of an election campaign.

Mr. Chee smiles when it’s suggested that he must be doing something right. “Every time he says something stupid like that, I think to myself, the worst thing to happen would be to be ignored. That would mean we’re not making any headway,” he agrees.

But one charge made by the government does stick: Mr. Chee is not terribly concerned about election results. Which is just as well, because his Singapore Democratic Party did not do very well in the May 6 polls. It would be foolish, he suggests, for an opposition party in Singapore to pin its hopes on gaining one, or perhaps two, seats in parliament. He is aiming for a much bigger goal: bringing down the city-state’s one-party system of government. His weapon is a campaign of civil disobedience against laws designed to curtail democratic freedoms.

“You don’t vote out a dictatorship,” he says. “And basically that’s what Singapore is, albeit a very sophisticated one. It’s not possible for us to effect change just through the ballot box. They’ve got control of everything else around us.” Instead what’s needed is a coalition of civil society and political society coming together and demanding change—a color revolution for Singapore.

So far Mr. Chee doesn’t seem to be getting much, if any traction. While many Singaporeans don’t particularly like the PAP’s arrogant style of government, the ruling party has succeeded in depoliticizing the population to the extent that anybody who presses them to take action to make a change is regarded with resentment. And in a climate of fear—Mr. Chee lost his job as a psychology lecturer at the national university soon after entering opposition politics—a reluctance to get involved is hardly surprising.

Why is all this oppression necessary in a peaceful and prosperous country like Singapore where citizens otherwise enjoy so many freedoms? Mr. Chee has his own theory that the answer lies with strongman Lee Kuan Yew himself: “Why is he still so afraid? I honestly think that through the years he has accumulated enough skeletons in his closet that he knows that when he is gone, his son and the generations after him will have a price to pay. If we had parliamentary debates where the opposition could pry and ask questions, I think he is actually afraid of something like that.”

That raises the question of whether Singapore deserves its reputation for squeaky-clean government. A scandal involving the country’s biggest charity, the National Kidney Foundation, erupted in 2004 when it turned out that its Chief Executive T.T. Durai was not only drawing a $357,000 annual salary, but the charity was paying for his first-class flights, maintenance on his Mercedes, and gold-plated fixtures in his private office bathroom.

The scandal was a gift for the opposition, which naturally raised questions about why the government didn’t do a better job of supervising the highly secretive NKF, whose patron was the wife of former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (she called Mr. Durai’s salary “peanuts”). But it had wider implications too. The government controls huge pools of public money in the Central Provident Fund and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., both of which are highly nontransparent. It also controls spending on the public housing most Singaporeans live in, and openly uses the funds for refurbishing apartment blocks as a bribe for districts that vote for the ruling party. Singaporeans have no way of knowing whether officials are abusing their trust as Mr. Durai did.

It gets worse. Mr. Durai’s abuses only came to light because he sued the Straits Times newspaper for libel over an article detailing some of his perks. Why was Mr. Durai so confident he could win a libel suit when the allegations against him were true? Because he had done it before. The NKF won a libel case in 1998 against defendants who alleged it had paid for first-class flights for Mr. Durai. This time, however, he was up against a major bulwark of the regime, Singapore Press Holdings; its lawyers uncovered the truth.

Singaporean officials have a remarkable record of success in winning libel suits against their critics. The question then is, how many other libel suits have Singapore’s great and good wrongly won, resulting in the cover-up of real misdeeds? And are libel suits deliberately used as a tool to suppress questioning voices?

The bottling up of dissent conceals pressures and prevents conflicts from being resolved. For instance, extreme sensitivity over the issue of race relations means that the persistence of discrimination is a taboo topic. Yet according to Mr. Chee it is a problem that should be debated so that it can be better resolved. “The harder they press now, the stronger will be the reaction when he’s no longer around,” he says of Lee Kuan Yew.

The paternalism of the PAP also rankles, especially since foreigners get more consideration than locals. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund will hold their annual meeting in Singapore this fall, and have been trying to convince the authorities to allow the usual demonstrations to take place. The likely result is that international NGO groups will be given a designated area to scream and shout. “So we have a situation here where locals don’t have the right to protest in their own country, while foreigners are able to do that,” Mr. Chee marvels. Likewise, Singaporeans can’t organize freely into unions to negotiate wages; instead a National Wages Council sets salaries with input from the corporate sector, including foreign chambers of commerce.

All these tensions will erupt when strongman Lee Kuan Yew dies. Mr. Chee notes that the ruling party is so insecure that Singapore’s founder has been unable to step back from front-line politics. The PAP still needs the fear he inspires in order to keep the population in line. Power may have officially passed to his son, Lee Hsien Loong, but even supporters privately admit that the new prime minister doesn’t inspire confidence.

During the election, Prime Minister Lee made what should have been a routine attack on multiparty democracy: “Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in parliament. Instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore, I’m going to spend all my time thinking what’s the right way to fix them, to buy my supporters’ votes, how can I solve this week’s problem and forget about next year’s challenges?” But of course the ominous phrases “buy votes” and “fix them” stuck out. That is the kind of mistake, Mr. Chee suggests, Lee Sr. would not make.

“He’s got a kind of intelligence that would serve you very well when you put a problem in front of him,” he says of the prime minister. “But when it comes to administration or political leadership, when you really need to be media savvy and motivate people, I think he is very lacking in that area. And his father senses it as well.”

However, the elder Mr. Lee’s death—he is now 82—is a necessary but not sufficient condition for change. Another big factor is how civil society is able to use new technologies to bypass PAP control over information and free speech. The government has tried to stifle political filmmaking, blogging and podcasting. Singapore Rebel, a 2004 film about Mr. Chee by independent artist Martyn See, was banned but is widely available on the Internet.

Meanwhile, pressure for Singapore to remain competitive in the region has sparked debate about the government’s dominant role in the economy. Can a top-down approach promote creativity and independent thinking? The need for transparency and accountability also means that Singapore will have to change. That is the source of Mr. Chee’s optimism in the face of all his setbacks: “I realize that Singapore is not at that level yet. But we’ve got to start somewhere. And I’m prepared to see this out, in the sense that in the next five, 10, 15 years, time is on our side. We need to continue to organize and educate and encourage. And it will come.”

He doesn’t dwell on his personal tribulations, but mentions in passing selling his self-published books on the street. That is his primary source of income to feed his family, along with the occasional grant. As to the charge of wanting to be a martyr, once he started dissenting, he found it impossible to stop in good conscience. “The more you got involved, the more you found out what they’re capable of, it steels you, so you say, ‘No, I will not back down.’ It makes you more determined.”

Perhaps it’s in his genes. One of Mr. Chee’s daughters is old enough that she had to be told that her father was going to prison. She stood up before her class and announced, “My papa is in jail, but he didn’t do anything wrong. People have just been unfair to him.”

Explanation: Statement on Singapore Banning the REVIEW  Travellers' Tales.

• [099]  Cracked? (09/30/2006)  When I first bought this computer, I installed all software (including my personal firewall) before I connected to the Internet.  Then I connected the computer to the Internet.  Astonishingly, within five seconds, the firewall software flashed that an attempted intrusion was detected.  So I advise everybody to protect themselves beforehand and periodically scan their computers with anti-virus software.  Another way of checking is to use a service such as DShield.org, which is a database that logs in complaints about IP addresses that have attacked other machines.  For example, without your knowledge, an intruder may have seized control of your machine and silently turned it into a zombie to attack other machines.  Out of curiosity, I inquired IP address 69.49.101.19 at DShield.  Here is the screen capture of the query:
  
   
  For more information on 69.49.101.19, please see Comment 200609#080.  The DShield result was first noted at Steve's Thoughts.  You can try it for yourself.  You can also access DShield.org itself and see if your own IP number has been compromised too.  Oh, anyone whose IP number shows up on the database has the obligation to clean up their machines/servers ... and that applies to whoever is based at 69.49.101.19 because you are a public menace.

• [098]  Divorce Town (09/29/30)  (Beijing News)  This is a case of strange and unintended consequences of government policies in China.  In year 2005, the Liaoning province Dandong city Tongxing town civil administration bureau had processed a total of 11 divorces.  Then suddenly, during September 6-12, there were 19 divorces including 12 on September 12 alone.  Usually, when the applicants come to the office, the administrator will try to mediate between contentious couples.  But this time, neither party said much, and they just wanted to go through with the formalities.  A study of these recent showed that at least one member of each couple is an elementary school teacher in town.
   
  Why the rash of divorces?  This was the unintended result of a new policy, in which teachers will be formally offered employment contracts.  In so doing, it was found that there were 98 current teachers more than existing positions.  Therefore, teachers will be evaluated and some will have to be laid off as a result.  However, the policy stipulates that special consideration will be given to "widows or divorcees who are bringing up non-adult children."  Thus, it was time to get divorced in order to earn the special consideration.  In fact, the majority of the teachers who fit the description had filed for divorce.
   
  What was the answer?  Work teams were sent to the schools to talk to the divorcing teachers and inform them that it was absurd to divorce in order to get a job.  After much work, most of the teachers re-married with the exception of two who had genuinely troubled marriages.  But on the civilian records, the word "divorce" will remain forever for those who re-married.
   
  The education department director said that the policy was intended to mean well by protecting social vulnerable groups and showing humanistic concern.  Unfortunately, some teachers decided to bypass the evaluation process and take the easy way out to get a job.  The education department head has been suspended from his job pending investigation.

• [097]  Free Speech Rights for Public Figures (09/29/2006)  (Xiamen Commercial Daily via Wenxue City)  The incident is simple enough: Through the arrangement of the Xiamen city government, Phoenix TV deputy director Cheng Helin (程鹤麟) and more than twenty Hong Kong reporters went to visit Xiamen University.  The group traveled by bus and when they got to the main gate, an overweight guard refused to let their bus enter the campus and made the reporters get off and walk.  Yeah, so what?
   
  
   
  Except Cheng Helin is a blogger.  On his blog, he then reflected that in ancient times, officials had to get off their sedans and horses when they visited the royal palace.  "BAt Xiamen university, they permitted small cars to enter but not big buses.  I guess that their logic is that important officials come in small cars, while lesser people come in buses.  It ought to be said that this assessment is probably true."  Yeah, so what?  The man has his free speech rights, right?
   
  One Xiamen university student wrote: "Although this is a minor affair, Cheng Helin is a public figure and therefore his writing affects the reputation of Xiamen University.  Therefore, he needs to give an explanation on his blog."  Are there different speech rights for public figures versus ordinary citizens?  Hey, why can't a public figure just report what he saw and thought like any other blogger?

[in translation]

Renowned scholar Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨) published an essay titled "That is the name I was talking about" in People's Daily Net about the fall of Chen Lianyu, former Shanghai city party secretary.

Yu Qiuyu said that he related something that made him uncomfortable during the pre-recording of his program "Quitu Time" on Phoenix TV.  It was the second half of the year before last and he was invited to attend a Shanghai cultural event after not having been to such events for years.  At the time, many literary experts were there and they kept mentioning a name in an intimate way (no family name, just the given name).  Yu Qiuyu "did not know what was going on."  A man sitting next to him answered his query with astonishment: "That is the top leader of this city!"

Yu Qiuyu said, "I felt strange because this leader is definitely not engaged in research in the humanities.  So why are these scholars and professors referring to him repeatedly?  This is a form of mental kneeling in adoration.  Since the target was not present, it can be said to be a form of 'kneeling in absence.'"  The name that was being invoked with intimacy by the scholars was "Liangyu."

Yu Qiuyu said that he has brought up his concerns over this incident to his friends dozens of times.  On that day, he deliberately emphasized the serious setback in Shanghai cultural activities these days.  But those scholars looked at Yu in astonishment and two of them even interrupted him to say that Shanghai was not only setting cultural standards for China, but even internationally.  They were talking down at on him.

Yu Qiuyu said, "I was thinking at the time that since we are at a discussion of the humanities, I ought to have greater 'speech rights' than your 'Liangyu'?  Your respect for him and arrogance towards me do not represent serious scholarship.  When the scholars and professors engage in shameless flattery, these leaders take themselves too seriously.  A certain university professor said: 'What Liangyu said last month was also said before by the German Enlightenment philosophers, but he was more innovative.'  When so many contemporary intellectuals do these sorts of things, some officials forget who they are."

Finally Yu Qiuyu said that true intellectuals should be responsible for monitoring public power.  But most contemporary Chinese intellectuals are engaged in criticizing those without power and take out their jealousies on their colleagues.  Over and over again, they referred intimately to a certain leader that they do not personally know with his given name because they want to highlight their position and background and to mislead people that it was the leader's desire to trample on his colleagues -- such is their "wisdom of life."

As you might expect, some Internet netizens said to Yu Qiuyu: "Where were you two years ago?" and "See if you dare to publish this ten days ago" (see ChineseNewsNet).

• [095]  Brother Dear (09/29/2006)  In Big Discovery in Hong Kong (May 16, 2006), the story was about an anonymous blogger (under the alias of Brother Real) who exposed the dealings inside the Hong Kong Democratic Party.  At issue was the struggle between the reformers' group and the establishment, which was manifested in the form of a 5-person investigative committee to see if the reformers are recruiting new members for the purpose of packing the party in future voting and if they are having contacts with mainland people without reporting to the party central.
   
  The latest sensation in Hong Kong this week is an anonymous blogger (under the alias of Brother Dear (親兄弟)) at the blog named TruthDiscover.  This is better than any television serial drama because new information is posted every day.  Many of the internal documents of the 5-person investigative committee have been placed for the public to read.  Were the new members recruited for stacking the votes?  You can read the names of all those suspected new members.  Were people having improper contacts with mainlanders?  You can read who received what from whom (such as HK$3,000 for writing an essay for a mainland source).  You can also read about the rules of the inquisition ... eh ... the voluntary interview with the 5-person investigative committee as well as the questions asked ("Do you know any party members who have contacts with the Chinese side?" "XX said that you took money from mainland.  Is that true?").  This was construed to sow distruct besides asking people to inform on each other.  When someone brought his own tape recorder, Szeto Wah said: "If you make a recording, then the committee cannot guarantee confidentiality."
   
  So who is Brother Dear?  The complete 5-person investigative report is restricted to the 5 committee persons (which included Szeto Wah and Martin Lee) plus Lam Cheuk-ting, the secretary of party chairman Lee Wing-tat.  The MS Word documents posted on the TruthDiscover blog belonged to "Ting," although this could either mean that Lam Cheuk-ting provided them or someone obtained it from him via some means.
   
  Here is Ming Pao's analysis.  According to the mainstream establishment in the party, the reformers' leaders such as K.M. Chan and Raymond Luk were concerned that they would be alienated and therefore they exposed the documents in order to preserve the reform movement.  But the problem is that this report is a highly unfavorable smear job on the reformers.  The report shows that some reformers were stacking the party membership roll in order to win elections and they had unreported contacts with mainlanders.  So is this a mutually assured destruction?
   
  From the reformers' side, if these documents came from "Ting," then it is believed that Lam Cheuk-ting released them at the behest of his boss Lee Wing-tat to make the reformers look bad in the public eye.  This story develops as new information is being released on the blog every day.
   
  
  Lam Cheuk-ting: "No comment."

• [094]  PR = Perception + Reality? (09/28/2006)  (Apple Daily; also at the 案內人隨筆 blog)

• [092]  Freedom of Speech Trampled Again in Hong Kong (09/27/2006)  (Apple Daily, mentioned by Sidekick)  Since the school year started, there has been three student suicide deaths already.  So when the fashion chain store FCK (for Fashion Community Kitterick) began selling HK$229 t-shirts with the words "I hate myself and i want to die," there was strong criticisms from the educational community.  Now the store chain has agreed to withdraw those t-shirts, although the reporter could see them at the Causeway Bay store.
  

• [090]  The Vanishing Chinese Pigs Act (09/27/2006)  (Taiwan News)  On the front page China Times story on September 25, it was reported that in the headline that Democratic Progressive Party chairman Yu Shyi-kun had called anti-Bian demonstrators "Chinese pigs."  Afterwards, cable television station TVBS-N reviewed its tapes of Yu's public remarks over the past two weeks and was able to determine that Yu did not use the term as reported.
   
  On September 26, Yu filed a libel suit against the two China Times reporters whose bylines appeared in the report and the paper's editor Wang Chien-chuang.
   
  On September 26, China Times published an apology in a small space on the top half of the second page: "Although DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun has recently made certain remarks that sparked public concern of escalating ethnic tensions, including that 'the depose Chen movement was Chinese people bullying Taiwanese people,' the paper has verified that Yu did not use the term "Chinese pigs" as was reported in our front page story on September 25. We therefore offer an apology to Chairman Yu and our readers."
   
  While the apology has at least cleared the chairman's name, it is was published in a space disproportionate to the original headline.  Yu will discuss the matter with lawyers about his next steps.
   
  Note: The problem with covering this story is that you need to have physical copies of the printed editions of China Times.  The electronic China Times does not show the headline as it appeared in print, and the apology could not be found (correction: it can be found by searching for "Chinese pigs").  Instead, much of this story depends on other media reporting.
   
  Note: Another unsatisfactory aspect of such stories is that there is never an explanation as to how it happened and what kinds of procedures were or will be in place to prevent just this type of thing.  Need I invoke the saying that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it?

• [088]  Red Car For Sale (09/26/2006)  (Apple Daily, United Daily News)  In the 919 anti-Bian demonstration in Tainan, a red car was attacked by pro-Bian supporters.  Given that the car was going to cost NT$130,000 to fix, it would have been worth only 1/3 its price (or just over NT$100,000) if sold to a used car dealer.  Therefore the owner posted the car on Yahoo! auction, describing it as the "919 Super Sensational Red Ford Sedan."  
  
  In three days' time, more than 60,000 people viewed the page, almost 300 left comments and 50 people made bits.  The current high bid is NT$530,400.  One commentator said: The damaged car is proof of democracy in Taiwan.  "At an auction to raise funds for election campaigns, some rich person will probably pay a sky-high price for it."

• [087]  Netizen Opinion on NSTCAMP.com case (09/26/2006)  In Comment 200609#086, there is a report on the technical investigation conducted by the Hong Kong Internet Society.  The last finding was: " But normally such behaviour happens when the end site closes the connection from Netvigator etc., because it maintains a blacklist of networks that they do not want to serve, e.g. if these networks may be a source of worms or viruses."
   
  What does that mean?
   
  The post 香港的GFW﹗？  at the Steve's Thoughts blog covers the details of some telnet experiments.  Those accesses were unsuccessful because ntscmp.com (69.49.101/19) issued FIN/RST packets to terminate the connection.  Here are Steve's thoughts on the matter:

• [085]  The Cable Thief (09/25/2006)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  At 4am in the Baiyun district of Guangzhou, a man attempted to climb up and steal an electricity cable.  He was electrocuted and died instantly, while still holding a cable cutter (with yellow handles) in his hand.  It is estimated that the black market price for the three cables each running 7 or 8 meters in length is not more than 1,000 RMB.
  

• [083]  Taiwan By the Numbers (China Times; China Times)  (1,090 respondents interviewed September 20-22 using the Taiwan residential telephone directory as the sampling base).
   
  Q1.  Who is responsible for the clashes between anti-Bian and pro-Bian supporters?
  43%: Pro-bian supporters
  22%: Anti-bian supporters
  19%: Local leaders
  4%: Police
   
  Q2. If these clashes continue, what is your worst feared negative consequence?
  41%: Economic impart
  27%: Wider clashes may hurt innocents
  16%: Bad example for kids
  6%: Affect security
  3%: Affect traffic
  4%: Not worried at all
   
  Q3: If A-Bian refuses to resign, do you support Shih Ming-teh campaign to lay siege to the Presidential Office on National Day?
  46%: Support
  51%: Do not support
   
  Q4: Some people are concerned that a siege of the Presidential Office will damage Taiwan's image internationally.  What is the best way to handle this?
  60%: Let it be -- Taiwan will accept the responsiblity
  29%: The anti-Bian camp should cancel the siege
  8%: Change the location for the National Day celebrations
   
  Q5: Former president Lee Teng-hui may initiate discussions with Lian Chan, James Soong, Lee Yuan-tseh and others after which Legislature Speaker Wang Jin-ping will communicate with President Chen Shui-bian about the resignation process.  Do you support this?
  53%: Support
  41%: Do not support
   
  Q6: Should President Chen Shui-bian resign?
  53%: Yes
  41%: No
   
  The other China Times article refers to a different survey result: 65.4% of the survey respondents say that President Chen Shui-bian should resign.  The three weekly polls show the trend as follows: 73% -> 72.1% -> 65.4% supporting and 26% -> 27.9% -> 28.7% not supporting resignation.

• [082]  Zidane Headbutts Long Hair (09/24/2006)  (Ming Pao)  Yesterday, Hong Kong Cable TV was interviewing Civic Party legislator Alan Leung in Mongkok when another legislator Leung Kwok-hung (nickname "Long Hair" 長毛) had a confrontation with a man who applied a headbutt in the manner of Zidane during the FIFA World Cup final game.  When the police arrived, the two parties agreed to an amiable settlement.
  
  I was sitting in a restaurant tonight and reading the printed edition of Oriental Daily.  There were pictures in which Leung Kwok-hung poked his finger into the nose of the other person first before a headbutt was applied.  I can find no such information on the the Internet.  Do we will have to wait for YouTube to post the instant replay?  Why is there still a divergence of Internet information from dead-tree information.  If you have the information, how hard can it be to post it on the Internet?

• [081]  The Internet Effect (09/24/2006)  Even one year ago, the following kinds of stories may not be reported in mainstream newspapers in Hong  Kong.  
   
  (Oriental Daily via Yahoo! News)  A fourteen-year-old boy in the third year of a Hong Kong secondary school posted to a discussion forum on September 22.  The title was "I just had a quarrel with my mom."  The deal was that he was only supposed to get tutoring on Sunday, but now his mom wants him to do that on Saturday, which was his only leisure day.  Therefore, he said that he wanted to "hire someone to beat up his mom."  The price was negotiable and he left his email address and ICQ number.  This post generated condemnations from netizens.  When interviewed by Oriental Daily, the mother said that she believed that it was just an emotional outburst at the spur of the moment, that the son was not expected to carry through the plan and that she was probably despotic.
   
  (Oriental Daily via Yahoo! News)  Right after the case of the case of the netizen who asked for information on building a suicide bomb to attack "Didiland" (see Comment200609#079), another netizen named Angus got on a discussion forum and proclaimed: "Where can I buy a bomb?  I am going to bomb the Convention Centre tomorrow (請問邊度有得買炸彈？我諗住聽日去炸會展！)."  The post got many responses, including someone who suggested a website where there are more than 100 types of explosives to choose from.  Other netizens said that they will inform the police.  The police spokesperson said that they are investigating the case.

• [080]  69.49.101.19 (09/24/2006)  This is a follow-up to the matter of the North American routers not completing the routing to NTSCMP.com (see Permalink).  First, from Internet Censorship Explorer:

ntscmp.com is hosted on a web hosting company in the U.S.  Its IP address is 69.49.101.19 [reverse DNS - hostedc10.megawebservers.com] and at least 5,439 other domain names are also hosted on that IP address.

That is right: at least 5,440 domain names, including ntscmp.com.

What about 69.49.101.19?  Is there anything special that merits special attention?  So I googled "69.49.101.19."  There are several entries of interest.

Internet Defense (Phisery):  A phishing email was sent on July 22, 2006 from Italy.  The purpose of the email was to get customers of Halifax Bank (UK) to enter their security information at a fake website.  The resource used was at 69.49.101.19.  It is noted: "The details will either be fake, or belong to another authority which owns a web server which has been compromised by the attacker."

Internet Defense (Phishery): A phishing email was sent on August 10, 2006 from the United States.  The purpose of the emil was to get customers of Bank of America to enter their security information at a fake website.  The resource used was at 69.49.101.19.  It is noted: "The details will either be fake, or belong to another authority which owns a web server which has been compromised by the attacker."

Escrow Fraud Prevention: A note was posted on July 31, 2006 about Transporters Worldwide Mobile at http://www.transporters-worldwide-mobile.com (IP address 69.49.101.19).

Escrow Fraud Prevention: A note was posted on August 26, 2006 about Mobile Shipment Company at www.szeiec-road.com (IP address 69.49.101.19)

Artists Against 419:  A note was posted on August 10, 2006 by about Europe Auto Delivery at www.europe-auto-delivery.com (IP address 69.49.101.19).

Trend Micro: A note was posted on June 8, 2005 about a phishing email for SkyBank customers to enter security information at a fake website (iskyfi.com at 69.49.101.19).

• [079]  Freedom of Speech Is Dead on Hong Kong Internet (09/24/2006)  (Ming Pao)  From "Flash Rape Mob" to "Assault on Didiney".  By Lo Wing-chung.

[in translation]

The verdict on the "Flash Rape Mob" case was rendered last week in district court.  The male netizen who was calling on others to form a "rapist gang" was found guilty on two counts of violating public morality.  Less than one week later, the police has arrested a 21-year-old netizen who claimed to want to have a suicide human bomb attack on "Didiney."  These two cases were discussed widely in the real and virtual worlds, with some commentators getting concerned that these cases are setting up bad precedents of speech as crime -- whereas the Internet provides the maximum freedom for speech, it has become the warehouse for law enforcement personnel to spot trouble.

It is perhaps an exaggeration to say these Internet-related crimes are setting a precedent to criminalize speech.  "Freedom of speech" is not an absolute right.  The current Hong Kong criminal law criminalizes certain kinds of speech, such as criminal libel, aiding/abetting/persuading others to commit crime, or even something as simple as obscene language in public transportation.  Anything inappropriate may make the speaker criminally liable.

Although the Internet is a virtual world, this does not mean that the law becomes virtual.  Internet crimes carry the same liabilities but the same law applied to the real or virtual world may be vastly different.  The virtual world is different from the real world in that the reach of a speech is much higher than in the real world, and its power to incite is therefore much more.  Legislative Councillor and barrister Audrey Eu pointed out that Internet speech can incite others to commit crimes, and therefore it is understandable that the law enforcement authorities would want to handle the Internet more carefully.

But when the police arrested the netizen who claimed to want to bomb "Didiney," the circumstances were different from the "Flash rape mob" case.  In the "Didiney" case, a self-proclaimed "Hezbollah terrorist" netizen posted at a discussion forum in a joking manner that he wanted information on bomb construction in order to launch a suicide bomb attack on "Didiney."  There was no discussion about any actual tactics.  Although another netizen gave him instructions on how to build a home-made sulfuric acid bomb, nobody would have treated this as true.  But the police arrested the netizen for "attempting to cause an explosion" while not finding any bomb-making materials at this home.  This may have been an overkill.

Obviously, one should not encourage terrorist activities, but the police must have "probable cause to file charges" when they arrest someone.  Based upon the case details, the police had reason to investigate in order to ensure that there was no bomb attack, but there was no reason to make the high-profile arrest.  When the case is dismissed, one feels that this was an overkill even as the feeble Internet free speech space is irreparably hurt.  The law enforcement authorities need to be extra careful about Internet crimes.

Netizens and law enforcers both have the duty to protect healthy Internet speech.

• [078]  The Evidence on the NTSCMP.com Block (09/24/2006)  .. and this is suggestive but inconclusive.
   
  The initial indication of a possible block on NTSCMP.com is that some users (but not all: read the comments at Flagrant Harbour) of Hong Kong Internet service providers Netvigator and Hutchison Global Communication were unable to access NTSCMP.com, usually receiving a blank page.  The standard analytical tool is to run TRACERT (which is available if you invoke the MSDOS Command Screen in Windows->Accessories, proceed to C:\WINDOWS and type in TRACERT WWW.NTSCMP.COM).  
   
  An example of such a trace can be found at the Netvigator user Mister Bijou.  The original request went from Netvigator to Cogentco.com in the North America and could go no further.  Please remember: the mission is to trace the request until it reaches the final destination at NTSCMP.com (at IP address 69.49.101.19 hosted by FortuneCity.com).  But somewhere along the way, after Netvigator handed off to Cogentco.com, the connection was timed out because there was no response from either another intermediate relay point or FortuneCity.com itself.  In either case, this has nothing to do with Netvigator.
   
  I am a Hong Kong Cable (i-cable) user, which is a competitor of Netvigator and Hutchison Global Communication.  At first, there was a time that I could not access NTSCMP.com either.  Like many others, I tried to run TRACERT and my results were reported at Comment 200609#057.  Like Mister Bijou, my request left Hong Kong Cable and reached North America, where the Canadian routing service Telus.net was unable to forward it to the next destination and therefore I could not reach NTSCMP.com at IP address 69.49.101.19.  Today, I am able to reach NTSCMP.com through my Firefox browser on my Windows XP machine.  However, when I tried to run TRACERT again today, I am still stuck at telus.com (see screen capture).  That is to say, the next routing point failed to forward this TRACERT request and I assume that it must be occurring in North America.
   
  As the Dukedom of Aberdeen blogger pointed out, there is an Internet tool at traceroute.org which allows you to trace your access path from various points around the world to any final destination.  Here are the results of my attempts from other points in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong: Pacific Net: connection was broken at 217.239.40.78 (Deutsche Telecom in Germany) (see screen capture)
Powerbase: connection was broken at 217.239.40.78 (Deutsche Telecom in Germany) (see screen capture)
Sum.com.hk: connection was broken at 217.239.40.78 (Deutsche Telecom in Germany) (see screen capture)
 
HKFTP: connection was broken at Cogentco.com (see screen capture)
Zonasa: connection was broken at Cogentco.com (see screen capture)
Hutchinson Global Communications: connection was broken at Cogento.com (see screen capture)

To summarize all my experiments, my requests from Hong Kong were dropped at Telus.com, Cogentco.com or Deutsche Telecom before they could reach NTSCMP.com at IP address 69.49.101.19.  No Hong Kong ISP should be blamed for these events.  And all three relayers (one Canadian, one American and one German) failed to reach the next point.
 
What if we attempted to run TRACERT from North American academic sites to NTSCMP.com?  There is no reason for these access attempts to go through Netvigator or HGC in Hong Kong.  Here are my results:

Princeton University (Princeton, NJ): connection was broken at Cogento.com (see screen capture)
Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA): connection was broken at Cogento.com (see screen capture)
Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA): connection was broken at 217.239.40.78 (Deutsche Telecom in Germany) (see screen capture)
University of Oregon (Eugene, OR): connection was broken at telus.net (see screen capture)

I believe that something unusual is happening in North America, and this has nothing to do with any Hong Kong ISP.  While TRACERT is not necessarily equivalent to web page access, someone somewhere had to have taken the extra step to make TRACERT fail.  Why?
 
At this point, I would like to inject a personal opinion.  And I emphasize that this is a statement of personal opinion which is protected by the freedom of expression in Hong Kong and the United States of America.  What is my impression of FortuneCity.com, which hosts NTSCMP.com?  I think of FortuneCity.com as one of the worst ever in the history of the Internet, along with Geocities, Tripod and Lycos.  I have no reason to believe their declarations over those of Netvigator and Hutchison Global Communications.  At this point, the FortuneCity.com administrator may say that he has no problem accessing NTSCMP.com, but why is everybody having such problems doing a TRACERT?  Maybe it is something that FortuneCity.com is doing or maybe it is something happening upstream.  But it is not the Hong Kong ISP's for sure.

P.S.  Additional information:
聞.見.思.錄  

(in translation)  

Several days ago, just like Dukedom of Aberdeen, I received an email from Letters from China about how it was impossible to access ntscmp.com via Netvigator and HGC.  I am a Netvigator user and I attempted to access the website.  I was unsuccessful.  But I attempted to access the website again between two days ago and now and I was successful.

In this age in which politics meant everything, it is expected that the ntscmp story would be called "censorship" and "blocking."  At the time, I was ready to call this censorship, but then I thought that is was premature to "jump to conclusion."  In order to reach this conclusion, it is necessary to show that not only Netvigator/HGC users cannot access but all other users (in Hong Kong and elsewhere) can reach the website.  According to Sidekick and EastSouthWestNorth, the problem is in the United States and not with the Hong Kong ISP's.

At this moment, the incident has been characterized as a "censorship incident" (in the two Apple Daily reports), with scary terms such as "censorship" and "blocking."  Whenever such matters involve the top wealthiest families in Hong Kong, everybody should be "wary" and just condemn first before anything else.  I don't know about that.  Several days ago, I was unable to access ntscmp.com, but I can now do so easily.  Is this because of the exposure?  But I think that I still have to give the accused party the benefit of the doubt until accurate evidence is available.  Or else I can become a laughing stock.

• [077]  Taiwan By The Numbers (09/23/2006)
   
  (China Times/CTI TV)  (1,032 adults interviewed by telephone on September 20-21, using the residential telephone directory as the sampling base)
   
  Q: Are you confident in the fairness of the judicial system in investigating the corruption investigations?
  27% confident; 53% not confident (not confident by political affialiation: 49% among greens; 76% among blues; 29% among independents)
   
  Q: Should President Chen Shui-bian be held responsible for any misconduct by his wife?
  59% yes; 20% no.
   
  Should a president resign if found to be involved in corruption?
  60% yes; 28% no.
   
  =====
   
  (TVBS; TVBS) (855 persons age 20 or over interviewed on September 19-20 using telephone directory with last four digits randomized)
   
  Q: Are you satisfied with (name of politician)? (the number in the parenthesis is the change from the previous poll on July 28, 2006)
  Ma Ying-jeou: 58% (-3)
  Shih Ming-teh: 58% (no previous data)
  Wang Jin-ping: 54% (-2)
  Lian Chan: 49% (+1)
  James Soong: 41 (+20)
  Frank Tse: 38% (-1)
  Lee Teng-hui: 34% (+9)
  Su Ching-cheng: 33% (-5)
  Annette Lu: 25% (-8)
  Yu Shyi-kun: 22% (-6)
  Chen Shui-bian: 13% (+2) (76% dissatsified; 11% no opinion)
   
  Q: How would rate the Democratic Progressive Part and the Kuomingtang on the following seven attributes:
   
  Value public opinion (very/somewhat): DPP 24%; KMT 53% 
  Clean and uncorrupt (very/somewhat): DPP 15%; KMT 32%
  Lively and dynamic (very/somewhat): DPP 35%; KMT 54%
  Value reform (very/somewhat) DPP 33%; KMT 54%
  Unity (very/somewhat): DPP 39%; KMT 59%
  Able to reflect: DPP 22%; KMT 59%
  Job performance (good): DPP 10%; KMT 39%

• [076]  Black Humor in Chinese Statistical Data (09/23/2006)  (Southern Metropolis Daily via Daily Economic News)

... Chinese ecnoomic data often contain a little bit of black humor.

The latest example is this: in August, industrial production grew by 15.7%, which is 1% less than last month and also a new low since March 2005.  But for the same month, electricity consumption increased by 16.4% compared to the increase of 13.5% in July.  This created the "single highest increase in the 21st century."  These two sets of incompatible data are black and humorous, because our national economic development has defied normal logic: electricity consumption goes up while industrial production goes down.

Why?  Because it is extremely difficult for two different departments to coordinate their data.  That is, one side may be inflating or deflating the numbers while the other side does not do the same.  This meant that some numbers are heading in opposite directions.  Relatively speaking, electricity consumption is fixed and hard to fake.  For the August industrial production, the macroeconomic control policy to cool down the economy gave the government the motive to adjust the numbers downwards.  At the same time, environmental protection and green GDP are receiving increasing attention and becoming important indicators of political accomplishments as well as economic interests, and so the local governments are motivated to overstate energy consumption for now.  Thus, the statistical data become science fiction ... 

• [075]  Chinese Government Suspected of Blocking NTSCMP.com (09/23/2006)  Well, at least that is what the Apple Daily headline said.

(Apple Daily)  Anti-Li Ka-shing Website Blocked, Central Government Possible Suspect.  September 23, 2006.

[in translation]

The matter of the website ntscmp.com that is critical of Li Ka-shing and Richard Li being blocked is still unresolved.  As of yesterday, the Office of Telecommunications Authority has received 34 complaints.  Netvigator and Hutchison Global re-iterated that they have not done any blocking.  Hong Kong Internet Society chairman Charles Mok said that more investigation may show that a third party could be stopping Hong Kong netizens from accessing that website, while the company that is hosting the website said that they suspect the Chinese government is involved.

Charles Mok said that more tests have shown that Hong Kong users can reach the website, but then they are immediately interrupted from viewing.  Therefore, the "superficial evidence" indicates that this may not be due to blocking by the Hong Kong Internet service providers.  It is possible that the website caused the incident by adopting certain procedures to prevent intrusion, and it is also possible that a third party is involved.  The matter is inconclusive at this time.

ntscmp.com owner George Adams said that this hosting service Fortune City is saying that the blocking originated from Hong Kong and netizens outside of Hong Kong can view his website normally.  He said that he could do nothing after the denials by Netvigator and Hutchison Global.  Local website InMediaHK cited Fortune City which hosts ntscmp.com as saying that the company does not block Hong Kong users and that this is possibly something that the Chinese government is doing.  But the company did not explain further.

According to engineers who are familiar with Internet technology, this incident is very unusual.  If the blocking does not orignate from Hong Kong, it will be hard to track down and it will be even more difficult to find out if the Chinese government was involved.

As Charles Mok noted, the headline was bad because there is absolutely no evidence or motive for the Chinese government to do any blocking.

From InMediaHK, here is the email reply from Fortune City:

From: Chris Ferry <chris@corp.fortunecity.com>
To: "Shu Hung (Koala)" <my email>
Cc: dns@fortunecity.com
Date: Sep 22, 2006 4:00 AM
Subject: Re: Have you blocked our access to your server

Shu Hung,

We are not blocking these IPs on our routers. It is most likely the Chinese Government. If you require access to these sites may I suggest an anonymous proxy server. But I imagine most of those are blocked as well.

Good luck,
Chris Ferry
Director of Operations
FortuneCity.com Inc.

It is likely that Chris Ferry does not understand Hong Kong's position in the context of China ("one country, two systems").  He suggests that this Hong Kong user should use an anonymous proxy server, which he imagines might be blocked as well.  That is a total misconception about the state of Internet access in Hong Kong (with the exception of this one peculiar case right now).  The term Chinese government usually means the central government on the mainland.  The technology does not exist for the central government to block Internet access in Hong Kong, least of all selectively among some (but not all) Netvigator and Hutchinson Global users.

• [074]  The Tainan Police Takes Charge (09/22/2006)  After the press conference from the enraged National Police Agency Director-General Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) in which he issued six major demerits to senior police officials in Tainan and Kaohsiung, the Tainan police took charge last night with big sticks.
   
  (Boxun)
  
   
  
   
  
   
  (Apple Daily)  Yesterday, about 300 people participated in the anti-Bian sit-in.  There were 600 Bian supporters chanting and yelling.  There were also many spectators.  The police had 1,400 officers at the scene.  At around 910pm, the poilce began to take action against the Bian supporters on the plaza west of the Tainan City government office.  The assistant of a DPP city legislator attempted to ram a sound truck at the anti-riot police line, but he was pulled out of the car and arrested along with several others who used violence against the police.  At 945pm, some Bian supporters began to aim fireworks at the anti-Bian area.  The police began another round of crowd dispersion and arrested six persons.  The crowd eventually dispersed after 11pm.  Overall, one Bian supporter and one police officer were injured.  Twelve persons were arrested, all of them Bian supporters.
   
  (Apple Daily)  Meanwhile in Taipei, the police have reviewed and they have locked in on ten people who were suspected of engaging in violence previously (such as vandalizing the television broadcast facilities and attacking media workers).  Of the ten people, four have already been identified and the police are asking the public to look for the other six persons:
   
  
   
  Here are the respective charges on these individuals (1) unplugging the CTV TV broadcast antenna; (2) assaulting Hong Kong's "Bus Uncle"; (3) invading CTV TV broadcast booth; (4) grabbing the FTV reporter; (5) physical assault on DPP supporter 歡喜婆婆歐怡伶; (6) physical assault on CTI TV host Huang Peng-jen.  There are green as well as red supporters in there.

• [073]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (09/22/2006) (Sing Tao)  (Lingnan University interviewed more than 800 adult Hong Kong residents by telephone during September 11-16).
   
  Q: Do you want to see more than one candidate in next year's Chief Executive election?
  A: Almost 80% said yes.
   
  Q: If Donald Tsang is automatically re-elected (that is, without competition), can you accept it?
  A: Yes: 76.9%; No: 10%
   
  Q: Do you support the re-election of Donald Tsang?
  A: Yes: 67%; No: 8%
   
  Q: Who would you choose in an election between Donald Tsang and Anson Chan?
  A: Donald Tsang: 52%; Anson Chan: 26%.
   
  Q: Who would you choose in an election between Donald Tsang and Regina Ip?  or Audrey Eu? or Alan Leung?
  A: Donald Tsang is supported by 70%, with the other three between 6% and 12.5%.

• [072]  Who Is Miss Yeung? (09/22/2006) (Ming Pao)  If this is a tabloid magazine or a Internet forum user asking the question, then it is boring by this time (see Comment 200609#058) as the story is running out of steam.  But this time, there is a bizarre twist.  You will recall that it all started with a published separation announcement by Ng Ka-po, the wife of William Tsang and daughter-in-law of National People's Congress Standing Committee representative Tsang Hin-chi.
   
  Yesterday, Ng Ka-po was interviewed in Vancouver by Sing Tao and suggested that she was not the person who authorized the publication of the ad.  She even said: "I would like to ask someone just who this Ms. Yeung is ... I want to know who wrote that ad."
   
  So Ming Pao now had to explain that the ad came via a large ad agency in Hong Kong.  Upon receiving the copy of the ad, Ming Pao contacted the principal.  In order to properly identify the principal, Ming Pao asked the person to produce proof of identity, related documents as well as a copy of the certificate of marraige.  Ming Pao received the copy of the certificate of marriage numbered 963xxx which showed the names of William Tsang and Ng Ka-po plus other details (birthdates, addresses, occupations, etc).  The certificate was even witnessed by Tsang Hin-chi.  Furthermore, Ming Pao even confirmed it with the Tsang family.
   
  As for the content of the ad, it was verified by the principal before publication.  So it is a mystery as to why Ng Ka-po said that she was unaware that a Ms. Yeung was mentioned in the ad.

• [071]  Apple Daily Reports on NTSCMP.com (09/22/2006)  (Apple Daily; see also Charles Mok)

(in translation)

Tycoon Li Ka-shing and his second son Richard Li may not coordinate with each too well in business, but they are unified against outside insults.  A website critical of the Li's appears to have been blocked by Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Global Communications and Richard Li's Netvigator.  The users of those two ISP's have been unable to access the website.  The Office of Telecommunications Authority has received 24 complaints.  The two companies both denied blocking their users from accessing the website.  A Legislative Council member pointed out that there is suspicion of interfering with freedom of information flow and asked the government to investigate.

The website suspected of being blocked by the two large ISP's is ntscmp.com, which was started in 1997.  The website uses sarcasm and humor to poke fun at social ills without being afraid of the rich and powerful.  As such, it is relatively well-known.

The website owner George Adams stated recently on the website that some netizens claimed to be unable to access the website recently.  After his investigation, it was found that only Netvigator and Hutchison users were affected.  He suspected that those two companies were blocking the website and called for netizens to complain to the OFTA.

Netizens were outraged by large financial groups blocking independent websites.  Many well-known blogs such as Mister Bijou and EastSouthWestNorth have commented on this case, and the local website InMediaHK has also reported on this.  The HK Golden discussion forum carried heated responses, with people saying that this is the typical Li style.  But there were also users of those two companies who claimed to be able to access the website.  Our reporter tested yesterday with Netvigator and Hutchison, and failed to get on.

George Adams told us that he checked his computer and server and both were working normally.  Furthermore, netizens outside of Hong Kong were not affected, so the two ISP's are the most likely culprits.  He has inquired at both ISP's.  Netvigator said that everything is normal while Hutchison has not replied.  He said that his website uses humor mostly to comment on the Li's without being malicious.  The most recent creation is a collage of photographs that referred to Richard Li as a "twat," and that may be the cause for the blocking.  He also described this affair as "disgusting censorship."

Both Netvigator and Hutchison have denied blocking their users from visiting anti-Li websites.  They said that some users can visit that website normally.  The OFTA has received 24 complaints so far, and the OFTA spokesperson claimed that if ISP's deliberately block information flow against the law, the highest penalty is a fine of up to HK$20,000 and two years in prison.

Charles Mok, Chairperson of the Internet Society Hong Kong, said that he heard about the case and preliminary investigation showed that several Hong Kong ISP's have encountered similar situations for unknown reasons.  "It may be that the ISP filtered the information, but another possibility is that there is a problem with the website itself."  He said that it is easier to trace from the server side.  Fan Kwok-fai, executive director of the Hong Kong Information Technology and Network Engineers Association, said that ISP's can easily block users from visiting certain websites and it is hard for third parties to do so.  However, the actual situation can only be determined after investigation.

Sin Chung-kai, Hong Kong Legislative Council member and chairman of the committee Information Technology and Communication Affairs, pointed out that the incident involves possibly restraint on the free flow of information and the authorities should investigate it quickly and prosecute if appropriate.  "If blocking combined.

• [070]  The Duke Speaks (09/21/2006)  The Hong Kong blogger known as The Dukedom of Aberdeen provides an update on the NTSCMP affair.  To me, it shows why that particular blog was listed in Hong Kong Media At Crossroads as exemplary.

[in translation]

(update on September 21)

During the day, I tried to use Netvigator to access ntscmp.com.  Failure.  This evening, I went home to Aberdeen and use i-cable to access it.  Success.  Before coming home, I had dinner with a friend who said that he tried it with Netvigator at work and he succeeded.

Based upon the above results, this thing does not seem to be the result of censorship/blocking.  On the contrary, there seems to be a problem with that website that made it impossible to go there.  I found a tool known as Mutliple Traceroute v0.96 which can test the routes from places from all over the world.  I started off with Telstra (203.50.2.177) in Melbourne.  Failure.  Next, I started from Finland's Center for Scientific Computing csc3-infor-a (193.166.0.1).  Failure.

It would seem that more than Netvigator users cannot access ntscmp.com.  Did ntscmp.com fool us?  I don't know.  I don't particularly like to clear Netvigator, but I must respect the facts.  The facts are that there is insufficient evdience to support what ntscmp.com says on its website:

1. No one can access ntscmp.com using Netvigator or HGC in Hong Kong.
2. Every other server can access ntscmp.com.

Those two points do not correspond to reality.

EastSouthWestNorth recommended that Netvigator (and other ISP's) state clearly that they will not block any website.  I believe that it is obviously a wonderful thing for the ISP's to say so.  But from the position of Netvigator, this highly visible statement will cause the mainstream media (such as newspapers and radio stations) to report and therefore lead to more people going to ntscmp.com, which is perhaps what the Li's do not want to see.  Presently, if there are only a small number of bloggers discussing this subject, it may be more advantageous for them to do nothing.

I do not have a firm position on this matter.  If this was a false alarm, we may be somewhat at a loss.  But in the end, we must respect the facts.  Perhaps I am wrong, and I hope someone will point out my mistake.

But I want the ISP's to know that people care about freedom of speech and information.  I care.

• [069]  The Value of Your Blog (09/21/2006)  (港燦筆記值82萬 by 案內人隨筆, also published in Apple Daily):

(in translation)  As far as I can tell, most local Hong Kong blogs are personal blogs.  So who is worth the most amount of money?  I tested several relatively more popular blogs at this website and here is their ranking:

1.東南西北　$1,296,658
2.港燦筆記　$827,837
3.聞見思錄　$475,566
4.通寶日記　$101,278
5.PK_日記　$88,070

The top-ranked EastSouthWestNorth has a "market value" of $1.2 million.  At a conservative return rate of 7%, there is a monthly income of $7,500.  That does not mean that you don't have to work anymore because it is going straight into your pocket from the buyers.  The condition is that you must keep on writing.  But if someone offers this price, should you sell?  Based upon the current circumstances, even if you outsource to Google to sell ads, it will be hard to make $7,500 per month.  Therefore, it would be worthwhile.  But the amount is not that big.  If you don't need money right now, you can wait because the space for development may be bigger than currently.

Related Link: 港燦筆記值 $827,837 ??????  港燦筆記

(in translation)  It would not matter how much you offer this blogger.  I have no intention of selling ads here.  Besides, if you write in Chinese, the Google ads will only be "public interest" ads.  I don't think that I am good enough to publish a book of collected essays or write a newspaper column, and I have no intention to do that.  I write this blog purely to for mental rest/masturbation.

Related Link: 47萬還是55萬？  聞.見.思.錄

• [068]  The NTSCMP Affair (09/21/2006)  What shall I say except that I am quite confused about what is happening?  Unwittingly, I have found myself in the middle of an Internet storm in which I do not possess precise information.
   
  The whole matter began with this post at Not The South China Morning Post:

We are now no longer viewable via Li Ka Shing owned PCCW Netvigator or Hutchison Global Communications Broadband servers (the former being the biggest Internet service provider in Hong Kong) but are freely available via HK public libraries and on other HK servers, and in the USA and in the UK for certain. Was it the (Li Ka Shing supermarket chain) Park N Shop ripoff references or the lovely pic above of PCCW/Netvigator Chairman Richard Li which threw the switch on us? We apologise for this hiatus in the delivery of your NTSCMP. Thank you for your kind messages of support.  Dr George Adams, for NTSCMP.

The Park N Shop reference was based upon this photograph in which the bottle of a cheap wine was marked dowm from HK$45.00 to HK$44.90.  Wow!

 
So did PCCW Netvigator ban NTCMP.com as a result?  I'm not sure.  For a while, I could not access NTSCMP.com as a i-cable.com user.  Had PCCW Netvigator really banned any website in Hong Kong, I am positive that i-cable.com would have taken out full-page advertisements in newspapers to say that they would never do so.  This is because the Hong Kong ISP market is highly comeptitive in Hong Kong and they will seize on any comeptitive edge (see Travellers' Tales).  So perhaps there is a technical glitch that affected some or all the Hong Kong ISP's.
 
As uncertain as I am about whether there is a real story here, as opposed to some Internet-related technical issue beyond the control of PCCW Netvigator, I observed that the Internet is responding:

Global Voices Online: Hong Kong (China), Freedom of Speech, Internet & Telecoms:.  "An alert posted by Mister Bijou on PCCW (biggest telecom in HK and ISP netvigator) decision to filter out a website called ntscmp.  ESWN picks up the story and urges Hong Kong blogger to test the filtering."

Global Voices Online: Hong Kong: GFW in HK?

Mister Bijou: Part 1,