I hate to be a nag, but . . .

I see that Bill Gates has held talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in an effort to stop software piracy:

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai pledged to combat software piracy during talks with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Monday as he became the most senior official of the communist state to visit the United States since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago.
Khai signed two agreements committing Vietnam to work with Microsoft in curbing theft of intellectual-property rights and removing licensing barriers for used computers donated to schools, said Microsoft spokeswoman Tami Begasse.
The Business Software Alliance, a Washington-based lobby group, estimates that 92 percent of the software used in Vietnam in 2004 was pirated, the highest rate in the world.

Gates’s concern is completely understandable.
But since he had the Prime Minister right there, I would have liked to see him put in a word about government Internet and blog censorship. In that regard, Vietnam imitates China, as documented in a report from Reporters Without Borders:

Vietnam follows the example of neighbouring China. Web content is extensively censored and e-mail is monitored in order to track down “subversive” Internet users. Seven cyber-dissidents are in prison.
Although the Internet has so far only reached 3 per cent of the Vietnamese population, it is growing fast. As in China, the government is grappling with a dilemma. It wants to develop online access as a vehicle for economic growth but it also wants to control its use. The authorities proudly launched broadband connections in 2003 but they also announced their intention to created a new police force to track down cyber-criminals.
(Those interested in knowing what happens to Vietnamese cyber dissenters should read the whole thing.)

Obviously, no one likes cyber crime, or cyber criminals. But when governments lump Internet dissent with cyber-piracy, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that someone put in a kind word for the unjustly imprisoned.
Maybe next time…
ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: In light of earlier reports of Microsoft’s collaboration with Chinese blog censorship efforts, maybe I’m being naive. I hope not. Asking people — even repeatedly — to stop and think shouldn’t be considered naive.


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2 responses to “I hate to be a nag, but . . .”

  1. Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist Avatar

    Communists call themselves “dissidents” and infiltrate and subvert free institutions and work to bring about revolution in every free country, screaming “McCarthyism!” whenever someone dares to expose their subversive activities. And then, whenever and wherever they get control (including many of our universities), they immediately suppress all dissent.

  2. Eric Scheie Avatar

    By any means necessary, Steven!