China and the Internet

There is no Google in China - at least not one that is uncensored. Websites are blacklisted - Wikipedia, Blogspot, andthe BBC News, to name just a few - and content providers like Yahoo!, AOL, and Skype, censor themselves so that they can operate in the country. To the dismay of some human rights advocates and media groups, it is principally American firms providing the Chinese government with technology to filter data as it comes and goes. Is there a better way to deal with China's laws and policies? Is a restricted internet better than no internet al all? In Boston, a panel discussion on these issues will be held by the Ford Forum, at Northeastern University's Raytheon Auditorium on October 12. Billed as the Nation's Oldest Free Lecture Series, the Ford Forum series if free and open to the public, and also archived on WGBH's website. This talk is on a hot topic we've looked at before on OOTJ.

Ford Forum: The Great Firewall of China
Moderated by International Law Professor Valerie Epps,
w/ Hiawatha Bray, Ethan Gutman, and John Jaw


This panel will focus on such concerns and shed light on the collision between new technologies and the national interests of the world's most populous country.

Panelists include:
Hiawatha Bray: The Boston Globe's technology reporter; Awarded the Overseas Press Club's 2001 "Best newspaper or wire
service interpretation of international affairs" for his reporting on the Internet in Africa.

Ethan Gutman: Author of Losing the New China: A Story of American Commerce, Desire and Betrayal; former Foreign Policy
analyst at the Brookings Institution.

John Jaw, Ph.D.: Founder of the Boston's English-language and Chinese-language editions of The Epoch Times.

Moderated by Valerie Epps: Director of the International Law Concentration at Suffolk University; Distinguished Fulbright
Lecturer at Fudan University Law School, Shanghai, China: Spring Semester 2006


Thurs., Oct. 12 6:30 PM

If you are in the Boston area, the direction on how to get there are on the web pages for the Ford Hall Forum: Main Page. You can link to WGBH, Boston, for webcasts and archives of programs here