[LINK] US funds censorship-breaking

[Jan Whitaker]

[I wonder if we can get it here in self-defence in advance?]

US funds tech to break net censorship
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/us-funds-tech-to-break-net-censorship-20110512-1eksb.html
  Dominic Rushe
May 13, 2011

NEW YORK: The United States is playing a game of ''cat and mouse'' on 
the web, funding new technology aimed at breaking internet censorship 
in repressive regimes including China and Iran, officials have said.

  Michael Posner, the Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, 
said that among projects being funded by the US government is a 
technology that acts as a ''slingshot'' - identifying censored 
material and throwing it back on to the web so users can find it.

  The project is part of a $US30 million ($28.4 million) State 
Department project aimed at encouraging civil liberty online.

  ''We're responding with new tools,'' he said. ''This is a 
cat-and-mouse game. We're trying to stay one step ahead of the cat.''

  Censored information would be redirected to email, blogs and other 
online sources, he said. Mr Posner said he would not identify the 
recipients of funding for ''reasons of security''.

  His comments come as the US ended two days of talks with Chinese 
officials amid worsening relations over censorship and crackdowns on 
dissidents.

  Chinese authorities block sites including Twitter and Facebook and 
censor information online.

  In March, Google accused China of interfering with its email 
service. Authorities have been censoring references to democracy 
uprisings in the Arab world and recently blocked search results for 
''Hillary Clinton'' after a speech championing internet freedom.

  Mr Posner said the US was using $US19 million to fund technology 
that would ''be redirecting information back in, that governments 
have initially blocked''.

  In Washington, critics have accused the State Department of being 
slow to spend the money and kowtowing to China.

  In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Mrs Clinton told the 
magazine China had a deplorable human rights record and was involved 
in a ''fool's errand'' trying to hold off democratic changes like 
those sweeping the Middle East.