The U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report for 1995 talks about restrictions on new media in China, pointing out that Internet access is now limited. How ironic that the U.S. Government would report that "government limits on Internet access" will harm the medium's growth -- while our _own_ government is imposing similarly suffocating regulations domestically. I draw small comfort from the fact that, as censors, we're not quite as accomplished as those in China or Zambia: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~declan/zambia/ http://fight-censorship.dementia.org/top/ -Declan ---- U.S. State Department Human Rights Report gopher://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/0F-1%3A23308%3AChina In many respects, Chinese society continued to open up: greater disposable income, looser ideological controls, and freer access to outside sources of information have led to greater room for individual choice, more diversity in cultural life, and increased media reporting. Although the sale and use of satellite dishes are tightly regulated, satellite television broadcasts are widely available, particularly in coastal areas. Telephone and facsimile communication is also extensively used. In many cities, the introduction of commercial Internet service promoted access to international sources of information. At year's end, however, new government limits on Internet access threatened to halt the growth of Internet use. In addition, new controls on reporting economic information introduced doubts about the Government's commitment to freedom of information. Government control of news media generally continues to depend on self-censorship to regulate political and social content, but the authorities also consistently penalize those who exceed the permissable. ###