From: "Deranged Mutant" <WlkngOwl@unix.asb.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 21:48:27 +0800
To: Arun Mehta <amehta@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>
Subject: Re: Another bad idea
Message-ID: <199607120517.BAA02703@unix.asb.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On 12 Jul 96 at 9:40, Arun Mehta wrote:
[..]
> As  I see it, the Chinese communist government will not live to see more
> than a few years (if any) of the 21st Century. We are all aware of the
> devastating impact of telecommunications, TV and computers on  authoritarian
> regimes.  E.g. in the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Easterners watching West
> German TV was a significant contributory factor.

Some say Hong Kong might be a contributing factor.

> Satellite TV is available all over China.The government may, for a while, be
> able to ban satellite dishes, but soon their size will reduce to that of a

BTW, similar problems in Iran fro what I've heard.  I remember 
hearing a blurb that VOA Chinese Programs explained how to make a 
setellite dish out of aluminum foil, so pick up special VOA 
boradcasts I'm sure... (That's rather intersting, because you can 
crumple it up or wrap leftovers in it immediately.)

[..]
> What that does is give us a window of opportunity. Hongkong has one
> remaining  year of guaranteed unfettered flow of information. China still
> has the Internet. What can we do?

I'm told by some friends that the Chinese, in large part due to the 
writing system, prefer FAXs over the internet.  That's something to 
keep in mind.

Hm... interesting project: a graphics program that works with PGP or 
PGPlib.  One can import scanned images or draw onto the screen and 
then encrypt it for mailing.

Are there any secure FAX protocols that could be worked into 
communications software and standard modems?

 
> 1) Collect the e-mail addresses as Allen suggested (including those in
> Hongkong), and send them a single, short message offering to teach them free
> of cost how to use pgp and all the goodies at
> http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/cbsw.html

Might be condescending.  'Civilized white man brings PGP to the 
barbarians...'  They may well know about PGP, but not in a position 
to make that knowledge widely known.

And if I were in a 'totalitarian' or restrictive country I'd be damn suspicious,
maybe frightened by this ('are the secret police setting me up?' or 'will the
notice if I reply?').  What if that person like the way their country is?  They 
could inform the local authorities and set in motion a crackdown that 
would not have happened, perhaps.

I'd leave the specifics to activists who are already familiar with 
the respective cultures, societies, politics, etc.... chances are they
are already doing things along those lines.  Otherwise, if you don't 
know what you're doing, you can unintentionally mess up somebody 
else's life, if not your own.

Rob



 
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