china AND human rights AND OlympicsI’ve just finished reading Robert Reich’s book “Supercapitalism” & it resonated with me. Microsoft is a company - its purpose is to make money for us as investors & to give us good prices as consumers. If we (the citizens) want it to be responsive in the way your organisation suggests, then we need to lobby GOVERNMENTS to change their laws when it comes to supporting human rights. We’ve been through this all before with Yahoo & Google - if Microsoft doesn’t respond to the Chinese Government in the way the Government wants, then another IT company will, & the struggle continues. If you organise a petition to lobby the US Government to change their laws on dealing with countries that infringe human rights (which is what all democracies should do), then I’ll be in it.
ACT NOW - Join the online Day of Protest
17 July 2008
On the 10 day countdown to the Beijing Olympics (30 July), Amnesty International will be co-ordinating a global, online day of protest against Internet censorship in China. We aim to 'occupy' as many online spaces as possible to demonstrate our solidarity with netizens in China and to call on major Internet companies to end their complicity in violating the freedom of expression and information of Chinese citizens.
How do I join?
To join the protest, simply register the details of your webpage or blog here. After registering, you will be provided with a line of code to paste into your blog or website.
What will happen on the day?
On the day of protest, 30 July, all registered websites will display a censorship simulation which will momentarily censor random words on their webpages. A banner across the top, or a more discreet ribbon, will explain why this page has become 'censored'. Visitors have the option of dismissing the ribbon or banner, or clicking on them to open a new window which takes them to Amnesty International's Uncensor website to take further action.
Protest badges
Websites administrators and bloggers also have an option of adding a countdown badge to their webpages.
The badge will also be available to MySpace users.
T
he badges can be obtained here.
Protest badges for Facebook users to come soon!
Where can I get more information?
For more information, to preview your page with the censorship simulation, or to join the Day of Protest, click here.
Hi Vicki
I completely take your point and the Global Online Freedom Act being discussed in the US has had much interest. We do need governments to change, in this case - the Chinese. However I still believe that it is the responsibility of companies to stand up for universal human rights. In the case of internet companies, surely freedom of expression should be at the foundation of what they do??
I think we must tackle the issue from many angles.
I am adding this to my 2 web sites! I think its not matter of making Window products compatible. They want their common man suppressed, un-aware of whats going on. What is freedom! If you see whats happening around and how people’s livings are changing - it causes Desire of change in yourself, thats what china government does not want.
I have a blog on WordPress and can’t add any of the badges nor the banner :-( But I have written a post about this protest.
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