Since March 2002, when Dynamic Internet Technology, Inc. (DIT) released the unprecedented censorship-defeating software, DynaWeb—providing access to forbidden sites for Internet users in China—over one million people have started using it.
Due to this success, Mr. Bill Xia, President of DIT, has been frequently interviewed by publications such as the Wall Street Jounal, Forbes, and Business Week. Xia has also testified several times in U.S. Congressional hearings related to China's Internet censorship and anti-blockade technologies.
In an interview with The New Epoch Weekly, Xia described his mission in counterattacking the blockade and his practical experience in this field.
Six months after DIT released their initial anti-blockade software package– Xia and his team stumbled on a problem that would prove to be a breakthrough. DynaWeb's administrator observed that the information flow on their site was reduced by about 50 percent, and he quickly relayed the problem to his colleagues. DIT team members devoted several days to investigating the problem, but to no avail.
Yet the blockade itself gave the team the insight they were looking for. A news report said that Web surfers who tried to access Sina.com—the largest Chinese-language infotainment web portal—were erroneously linked to a Falun Gong website—one of the more controversial sites that the Chinese communist regime was intent on banning. While some were surprised that the Chinese regime would make such a careless error, the DynaWeb team sensed that the problem might have arisen due to improper settings for Internet domain names.
For example, Internet censorship technology works in such a way that when a user tries to access web pages that are forbidden by the blockade, they are automatically transferred to other non-controversial pages. Yet the glitch mentioned in the news report worked the opposite way—taking a user from a safe page to a forbidden one. After realizing this crucial detail, the team at DIT spent several weeks working out a solution. The project led to what would be known as the first "dynamic website"—DynaWeb.
With the assistance of Chinese Internet users, DynaWeb pinpointed the loophole in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s new censorship technology and developed a countermeasure. The result: within a month the channel of information was reopened.
China To Fall Victim To Its Own Blockade
Xia explained that the Internet was created to freely exchange information. "What's most important is the stability of the network, he explained. "For example, when there is a blackout in a certain location, the Internet is still accessible in other parts of the world. Blocking the Internet deliberately changes its very structure—a free transmission of information. Once the Internet is blocked to a certain extent, the firewall established by the Chinese regime may lead to instability or even a total breakdown of the network in China."
The way DynaWeb's breakthrough technology works is by mixing the blocked information with other data. The format makes it increasingly difficult for the CCP to continue with its Internet blockade, as doing so may also block information they actually need and want to disseminate. "The Internet seems to be divinely arranged, as it tangles the CCP in a kind of restraint," observed Xia. "We simply have to tighten the restraint from time to time, and it will do."
On June 3, 2005, DIT released a report on Internet statistics of Chinese people renouncing their memberships of the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Between December 15, 2004 and February 2005, DIT sent out the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to 2.3 million email users in China through its email technology. On average, 62 percent of the people made their renunciation of the CCP via DynaWeb. DIT's web data indicates that the renunciation statements online came from 29 provinces and directly governed cities in China, with hits from Beijing constituting 15 percent of the total. "This is only the tip of the iceberg," says Xia. "These numbers represent the ones who are sophisticated enough to be able to use our anti-censorship technology and brave enough to take this step forward."
Sense Of Purpose
Where does the U.S. government weigh in on China's Internet blockade? Mr. Xia said that until recently the U.S. Congress wouldn't really touch the issue. "They are mostly concerned with information censorship, which is different from an information blockade," Xia said of U.S. lawmakers. "Information censorship is the practice of censoring Internet users in China. However, the problem with China is not merely with silencing those who speak out, but with preventing people searching for the truth from freely accessing information."
The story of China's Internet blockade was widely reported twice in the U.S. media. First, in 2002 when harmful effects from network blocking aroused the world attention, and again 2006 when Congress held hearings concerning Google's bowing to the CCP's pressure to participate in online censorship. Western media's concerns were not due to a sense of morality or out of sympathy toward the Chinese people, but rather concern for U.S. investment in China. Once Congress stopped paying attention, the media followed suit.
Many might be surprised that the best breakthroughs don't always happen with the most financial resources or manpower. While far from glamorous, Xia and his small DynaWeb team continue to work hard on their objective every day. He said that in the past, the team got a sense of achievement when they struck upon a technical breakthrough, but now breaking through the blockade is part of their daily routine. Xia believes that freedom of information will eventually prevail as their efforts continue to snowball. Over the past six years, it is this sense of purpose that has encouraged Xia to persevere in breaking through the blockade.
While Xia believes that DynaWeb is currently the leading software available to break through the Internet blockade, he is quick to point out that there is much more than technological advances responsible for the success of this effort. Xia humbly admits that there is a divine providence behind these breakthroughs, without which the efforts he and his team have made would be fruitless.
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