Draft of editorial to SF Chronicle

[root]

> 
> Ditto.
> 
> > In many countries (and even China is on the Net these days), writings
> > critical of the government, such as exposure of human rights abuses,
> > are illegal. The authors face imprisonment, torture and death. By
> > posting anonymously to the Net, the information can be brought safely
> > to the attention of the world.
> 
> Perhaps mention the Russian coup, where the net became a conduite for
> information leaving Moscow.  I remember a colleague of mine announcing
> incidents which had occured within Moscow hours before the news services
> broadcast them, simply by getting emails from a colleague nearby,
> 
>
It was even possible to get eyewitness descriptions of much of the troop
movement in Moscow in near real-time on #russia. The attack on the Russian
White House was in particular quite interesting to watch on CNN and compare
what was going on via irc comments.