3G Kindle avoids Great Firewall censorship, says report

People in China have found that Amazon's Kindle e-reader allows them to bypass the country's 'Great Firewall', according to a report.

An article in the South China Morning Post on Monday suggested that the 3G-capable device's browser was able to access sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which are banned in China and blocked at a national level. The access is made possible by Amazon's own Whispernet virtual mobile network, the article stated.

According to the piece, engineering professor Lawrence Yeung Kwan speculates that Amazon and its Chinese Whispernet partner — the virtual network is based on the real networks of operators around the world — "might have agreed to transfer the connection to Amazon's station, presumably in the US, once the mainland gatekeeper sees the signal comes from a Kindle... The signal, which may be encrypted, then returns to the partner network in China so the internet patrols cannot see what is accessed".

Amazon does not sell the Kindle in China, so the devices referred to in the South China Morning Post article are 'grey-market' imports.