Our man in limelight!

[glen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

                      Subject:                              Time:  10:34 =
PM
  OFFICE MEMO         Our man in limelight!                 Date:  =
4/22/95

Internet a Weapon in asia's Battles for Freedom
By GRANT PECK

Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand -- In the jungles of eastern Burma, opponents of the
country's military junta find themselves outmanned and outgunned. But in
cyberspace, the realm of the Internet, the rebels have computer =
technology on
their side.

``The Burmese regime has gotten away with so much because they control =
the
information,'' said ``Strider,'' the pseudonymous moderator of the =
BurmaNet
electronic mailing list. ``They can't do that anymore.''

Armed with computers, modems and Internet accounts, hundreds of social =
and
political activists around the globe are waging propaganda wars on the
authoritarian regimes of Asia. Groups elsewhere are also active, such as
Palestinians opposed to Israel and Saudis opposed to King Fahd.

The voices of Asian dissidents circulate via electronic mailing lists, =
which
deliver messages to subscribers quicker and more often than printed
publications. The information also is distributed through Usenet =
electronic
forums that most Internet users can check into at will.

Recently, activists have started electronically archiving their =
information
so it can be read using Internet search tools such as ``gopher'' and the
World Wide Web.

Because closed societies usually lack the latest technological tools, =
exiles,
expatriates and foreign friends are manning most of the electronic front
lines. But more locals are becoming involved -- both as pushers of their
causes on the Internet and recipients of hitherto unavailable =
information.

Strider's BurmaNet mailing list, begun last year, tilts at the military =
junta
that seized power in Rangoon in 1988 and exhibits little inclination to
restore democracy.

On a more-or-less daily basis, BurmaNet's 250 direct subscribers in 15
countries -- and several thousand people who receive its reports via =
Usenet
news groups -- can read Strider's dispatches culled from Bangkok =
newspapers,
communiques from rebel groups and on-the-spot reporting.

BurmaNet's reports are also smuggled on diskettes into Burma where they =
are
printed out and distributed clandestinely. There are no connections to the=

Internet inside Burma.

While Communist die-hard North Korea is still off the screen, Internet
connections in China and Vietnam have expanded recently in tacit =
concession
to the realities of doing business in the modern world.

China opened its first Internet link just two years ago, and now perhaps =
a
dozen sites are connected. Plans for a domestic educational network, to
connect 100 universities in 10 cities by 1996, will extend the links
considerably. China's phone company announced April 12 it will begin
processing applications for Internet connections in May.

Robin Munro, Hong Kong director of the New York-based group Human Rights
Watch-Asia, does not think dissidents inside China make wide use of the
Internet. But it is conceivable that ``some brave souls log on from time =
to
time,'' he said.

In Vietnam, a shoestring e-mail operation, Vietnam Academic Research and
Educational Network, has been joined by a second service, Netnam, =
``funded by
foreign aid money and geared toward international companies,'' according =
to
the Hanoi newspaper Vietnam Investment Review.

``The Chinese and others want Internet because it is such a valuable =
business
tool,'' Strider said. ``But if they open up to business, they cannot keep =
out
news.''

The news is ready and waiting. During the Tiananmen Square democracy =
movement
in 1989, overseas Chinese students and scholars established what is now
possibly the world's largest electronic mailing list, China News Digest.

Fifty volunteers turn out 14 on-line publications under its aegis, which =
last
year were sent out to more than 34,000 e-mail addresses in 43 countries. =
They
provide news of China, as well as academic, social and practical =
information
for overseas Chinese.'

Mainstream electronic activism by overseas Vietnamese consists primarily =
of
circulating petitions or raising money for ``boat people'' refugees and
issuing statements of protests over mistreatment of dissidents, said =
Stephen
Denney, a Berkeley, Calif.-based Vietnam scholar active on the Internet.

``Some actively promote improved U.S.-Vietnam relations and exchanges; =
others
seek the overthrow of the Vietnamese government,'' Denney said.

BurmaNet subscribers include virtually every academic involved in Burmese
studies, a number of U.S. government officials and the Burmese Embassy in
Washington, Strider said.

There was some debate among BurmaNet members over allowing the embassy to
subscribe. Strider solicited on-line opinions, and in the free-speech
tradition of the Internet, the overwhelming consensus was to ``let them =
on.''

Reacting to Strider's efforts, the embassy began in December to post news
from Burma's state-controlled press on the Internet.

John MacDougall, a former U.S. diplomat who for years has published =
reports
about Indonesia, now also uses the Internet to get out information.

His Indonesia-L mailing list also has an open attitude on information. =
``The
list policy is pluralism,'' the guidelines say, in an apparent dig at the
three-decade-old regime of President Suharto, which clamps down regularly =
on
public expressions exhibiting any diversity of opinion.

MacDougall's operation contains both Indonesian and English language
materials and draws heavily on other Internet resources, particularly =
e-mail
dial-up networks maintained inside Indonesia by non-governmental
organizations.

Strider and MacDougall both use the resources of the San Francisco-based
Institute for Global Communications to disseminate their news.

The nonprofit organization is allied with like-minded groups to provide, =
it
says, ``the most extensive global communication network in the world
dedicated specifically to serving NGOs and citizen activists working for
social change.''

Internet Addresses for Activist Groups

Information on computer mailing lists operated by Asian democracy activist=
s
is available at following e-mail addresses:

------

BurmaNet: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx

------

China News Digest: cnd-info@xxxxxxx

------

Vietnam: viet-net-info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

------

Indonesia-L: apakabar@xxxxxxxxx

------

Institute for Global Communications: support@xxxxxxxxxxx

------

Usenet news groups available on Internet:

soc.culture.burma

soc.culture.china

soc.culture.indonesia

soc.culture.vietnamese

alt.politics.vietnamese


This material is copyrighted and may not be republished without =
permission of
the originating newspaper or wire service. NewsHound is a service of the =
San
Jose Mercury News. For more information call 1-800-818-NEWS.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
congrats strider.
the lime-green hue looks good on you! 
glen