Re: just a short length of pipe (Score 1)

Agree, and the go-to article on this is always James Fallows' "The Connection Has Been Reset" http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/03/-ldquo-the-connection-has-been-reset-rdquo/6650/ Well worth a read if you're interested in this issue. Short version: The literally Orwellian internal censorship is so effective that the government can shut down almost any unpleasant message from spreading beyond a plugged-in elite (the Chinese equivalent of Slashdot readers). Fetishizing breaching the external firewall is just one small length of pipe needed to reach even the new urban middle class of Chinese.