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Chinese control of domain names

Rumor has it that China has recently moved to create its own root domain servers, which just so happens to be a useful way to control where Chinese citizens go when they enter a URL.
Written by John Carroll, Contributor

It is rumored that China has recently created its own top-level domain root servers for .cn, .com and .net extensions, ostensibly in order to avoid having to "surf the Web via the servers under the management of ICANN of the U.S."  I somehow doubt that is the real reason. China is not known for its respect for a free press, and it occurs to me that "American control" is a useful fig leaf to hide an attempt to grab even more control over where a link takes you.

Something I've never told anyone, however, is that I have a time machine. Yes, it's true. The control panel is on the back of an old box of Cracklin' Oat Bran, and the doorway bears a striking resemblance to my closet, but exist it does, and I have seen the headlines on cnn.com a few years hence...as accessed through root servers under Chinese control.

So, here it is, reduced for your viewing pleasure to fit within the context of a ZDNet blog entry...

hujintao.jpg

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