Lex 8256: The Law in Cyberspace Seminar

Responses to the Internet in China

-Brian Weicker

As we have discussed all year, the internet as it exists today has a certain architecture which makes it difficult to regulate from a centralized point.  Nonetheless, governments other than the United States have been relatively successful in creating nationwide internet filtering regimes.  Read this study by the Open Net Initiative (ONI) for some information about the types of information filtered in China, and for some discussion of how such filtering is accomplished.  Feel free to skim over the methodology section and the specifics of what is blocked (Sections 3 and 4A-4C), as I'd prefer to focus on the means and implications of filtering in general than on the politics of what is filtered.  

Visit China's official internet portal, the China Internet Information Center, and perform your own searches to see what information is available.  This may serve to give you a greater insight than simply reading a report about what is blocked.  Come to class prepared to discuss what you've found.

For an example of some of the language used in the regulations in China, read this short article from The Human Rights News.  Keep the source in mind while you are reading, but question what Constitutional issues such regulations would implicate if they were to be passed in America.  Would a system whereby responsibility for regulation (of those things regulable at all, constitutionally) falls mainly upon internet suppliers be successful in America, and would it be desirable?

It has often been said that China would not be able to effectively regulate the internet if it weren't for the aid of American companies.  What, if any, liability should be imposed on American companies for aiding China in these matters?  Read AIDING THE ENEMY: IMPOSING LIABILITY ON U.S. CORPORATIONS FOR SELLING CHINA INTERNET TOOLS TO RESTRICT HUMAN RIGHTS, paying special attention to the analysis, recommendation, and conclusion sections (sections III, IV, and V).  Is the author right in her analysis? Are U.S. companies that sell technology to China committing human rights violations?