THE NTSCMP AFFAIR
NETVIGATOR RESTORES NTSCMP ACCESS
Victory for consumer rights and the free Internet
Netvigator have written to us at last with what looks like a detailed explanation of why NTSCMP was widely unavailable on its network (in common with HGC) the past three weeks. The non-availability of NTSCMP brought forth an unprecedented wave of protests to them and to OFTA, the Government telecommunications regulatory authority. Netvigator writes that they first heard of the problem on the 19th September. This is not correct. We first complained on the 13th September. Netvigator writes that "we took immediate action to check our network and investigate the root cause.". This does not appear to be the case as we were assured by an e-mail from them on the 21st that: " We have checked that there is no problem found in accessing the website concerned. May we suggest you to retry again." We would suggest from this evidence that only after a wave of protests caused by the Apple Daily articles appearing on the 22nd and 23rd September did Netvigator begin to take the problem seriously. This for us is disturbing. It would suggest that ISPs may if they wish sit idly by and allow various web sites to be blocked and attacked on the network but when challenged say that it is not their concern. Selective or generalised non-provision of access to sites by ISPs constitutes a dereliction of duty of the ISP to provide service and also a kind of de facto censorship. What state would the Internet be in if every time a free speech web site was hacked or interfered with, the ISPs wrote back with their blanket reassurance that: "We have checked that there is no problem found in accessing the website concerned. May we suggest you to retry again." Internet service providers like Netvigator in our view must be speedier and more robust in their reaction to complaints. They must be proactive in the investigation of blockages in the network and the preservation of the rights to free speech embodied in the free Internet. They must be aware that they are in fact guardians of free speech. If they are not prepared to take on that responsibility, they must have their licence revoked and send their staff to man the shelves at Park N Shop.
Thank you one and all for your support in this matter. We have been overwhelmed by the solidarity of the Press, Chinese readers, long-time supporters and many friends overseas.
WHY NO ACTION FROM NETVIGATOR?
Despite having received at least 100 consumer complaints, been criticised in two Apple Daily articles and reported by dozens of people to OFTA, NTSCMP still remains largely unavailable on Netvigator and HGC but mysteriously enough, NTSCMP has been restored to the computers at Pacific Coffee we highlighted last week. The network leading to NTSCMP seems to have been hacked, possibly by a third party, yet this does not explain why Netvigator and HGC are almost the only sufferers. It also does not explain why Netvigator has told all complainants that there is no problem. Critics of Netvigator say that they would not be foolish enough to place a stop on their own server directly. Through their unwillingness to investigate and fix the problem Netvigator is in fact placing a block on access to NTSCMP. This could have been the strategy all along, say cynics: place or exploit a block somewhere else on the network by for example bombarding the NTSCMP server with spam or suspicious requests. The firewall of the server then springs into action to deny access. Then Netvigator pleads that it is not their problem. But it is.
LI KA SHING AND RICHARD : AN APOLOGY
Readers of NTSCMP may have gained the impression the last ten years that we have a somewhat dim and critical view of Dr Sir Li Ka Shing and the pride of his loins, Richard. Shamefully and misguidedly we have depicted Mr Li senior as a plutocratic tyrant, a monopolist with the morals of a guinea pig, a Rachman landlord and small-minded bully, a Third World tin pot parasite and ignorant relic of frontier town exploitative bush capitalism. As for his steadfast son Richard , we have portrayed him as a slimy, geekish oaf with too much of Daddy's money in his pockets, an academic cheat and an incompetent wastrel: commerce's answer to Mr Bean. We now see the error of our ways and hereby proclaim that we have come to revise our view of these key characters in the great vibrant Hong Kong miracle we know and love. The gift by Mr Li senior of a million oranges to the populace at the onset of the SARS crisis was not a cheap condescending advertising gimmick to promote his mobile phone network called Orange. His supermarket chain Park N Shop is not really a rip-off supermarket but an extension of the social services. Hong Kong Electric does not overcharge us or pollute the environment needlessly and Mr Li does not build inhuman rabbit hutches for the masses to atrophy and contemplate suicide in. Overall Mr Li's habit of cornering the market then terrorising everyone else into shutting up is simply the exercise of that great vision which we as ordinary mortals should not dare to question. Similarly, we now realise that his son Richard is a saintly,attractive, mature and supremely able continuation of the great genetic mystery which has made the Li family into a dominant force for good in Hong Kong and beyond. (Will this do?)
THE NTSCMP SONG
Midi file accompaniment
Music
: Richard Tsang / Lyrics : Richard Li
(Loosely based on an old forgotten gwailo war ditty but we still get the
royalties or else.)
Copyright: RTHK Radio 4 and CASH 2006.
There'
ll be white screens over
Hutchison Netvigator
Tomorrow
Just you wait and see.
I'll never forget the bloggers I met
Braving those virtual skies
I remember well as their hit counters fell
The light of envy in their eyes
And though I'm far away
I still can hear them say
Bog off NTSCMP
But when the dawn comes up....
There'll be white screens over
Hutchison Netvigator
Tomorrow
Just you wait and see.
There's no love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow
Cos the Web ain't free.
NETVIGATOR AND HGC USERS : SUPPORT OUR COURT ACTION !!
Our legal advisers tell us that it is best to challenge Netvigator and HGC in the first instance for non-provision of service, denying a legitimate expectation of provision of access to a legal and bona fide site like NTSCMP on their networks, despite numerous and widely circulated requests to do so, such provision being an implied term of the service agreement overriding any exclusion clauses. If you are a Netvigator or HGC user please contact NTSCMP immediately should you wish to join this action or provide support to it, financial, moral or otherwise. In providing your name and experiences in support of the court action, there is absolutely no obligation to join the court action itself.
AND NOW... WE'RE BEING "HACKED" OH YES
Any argument will do to shift blame from Netvigator and HGC
Latest theory on the non-availability of NTSCMP circulated to explain and absolve the Li family networks Netvigator and HGC is that we are being hacked somewhere in the system. This is our statement on this issue: "We are sorry to say we take a black box view of things. As consumers we have a right to be served. As citizens we have a right to efficient Internet access and service to the site we founded and cherish. We have a right not to be ignored and sabotaged actively or by default. Other networks have no problems accessing the site. Why do Netvigator and HGC? Netvigator for example have had well over a week to solve the problem and despite the numerous complaints made to them and to OFTA and the negative press coverage they have sustained, they proclaim that their networks are working well and that there are no problems. Either they are blocking us actively or passively. The effect is the same."
THANK YOU SCMP AND HK STANDARD
Not a word about the "NTSCMP affair" in the English press in Hong Kong. Partly because it wouldn't recognise a news story if it sat on it and because most of the SCMP is recycled Chinese press and the Government Information Service, and partly because as a failing concern it would not survive an advertising boycott by Mr Li Ka Shing and also because it is as self-censored as Xinhua, the South China Morning Post reacted to the NTSCMP censorship story by booting it quickly downhill to a columnist in the Business department who then got instructions to spike it. It must not be forgotten of course that the SCMP was the first body which tried to shut down NTSCMP - in 1997, when it served us with a long list of things which had to be removed from the web site immediately or else. We ignored them and they put up and shut up, until that is Jonathan Fenby the editor talked himself into a sacking by taking us on online. Shame on them still. The Standard's local news team on the other hand seems to be a man, his girlfriend and a bicycle these days. You can't expect much. Or have they still not forgiven NTSCMP for pointing out that some of its reporters are swayed too easily by bent barristers? When the going gets tough, Hong Kong English journalists duck for cover.
PCCW DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN?
Above: Screen capture from a Netvigator customer computer terminal at the Pacific Coffee restaurant, Stanley at noon on the 22nd September 2006. Some users report access of NTSCMP possible on Now Broadband and HGC.
No one at PCCW or in the Li family corporate sphere could have foreseen the popular reaction of Hong Kong people to the petulant decision by someone from Park N Shop command or within the family to arrange the block of our somewhat insignificant web site. In an effort to cover up its disastrous decision and maintain the block for the time being or even permanently as a warning to others, great efforts must have been made already. The story is now going around that the Mainland may be to blame although:
1. NTSCMP is freely accessible from the Mainland.
2. The Hong Kong Internet is not significantly routed through Mainland China.
3. "The technology does not exist for the Central Government to block Internet access in Hong Kong, least of all selectively among some (but not all) Netvigator and Hutchinson Global users." (ESWN)
With all that in mind, here is today's welcome follow-up piece (23rd September 2006)from the Apple Daily (in ESWN's translation):
The matter of the website ntscmp.com that is critical of Li Ka-shing and Richard Li being blocked is still unresolved. As of yesterday, the Office of Telecommunications Authority has received 34 complaints. Netvigator and Hutchison Global re-iterated that they have not done any blocking. Hong Kong Internet Society chairman Charles Mok said that more investigation may show that a third party could be stopping Hong Kong netizens from accessing that website, while the company that is hosting the website said that they suspect the Chinese government is involved.
Charles Mok said that more tests have shown that Hong Kong users can reach the website, but then they are immediately interrupted from viewing. Therefore, the "superficial evidence" indicates that this may not be due to blocking by the Hong Kong Internet service providers. It is possible that the website caused the incident by adopting certain procedures to prevent intrusion, and it is also possible that a third party is involved. The matter is inconclusive at this time.
ntscmp.com owner George Adams said that this hosting service Fortune City is saying that the blocking originated from Hong Kong and netizens outside of Hong Kong can view his website normally. He said that he could do nothing after the denials by Netvigator and Hutchison Global. Local website InMediaHK cited Fortune City which hosts ntscmp.com as saying that the company does not block Hong Kong users and that this is possibly something that the Chinese government is doing. But the company did not explain further.
According to engineers who are familiar with Internet technology, this incident is very unusual. If the blocking does not orignate from Hong Kong, it will be hard to track down and it will be even more difficult to find out if the Chinese government was involved.
THANK YOU CHINESE READERS
We have been touched more than we can say by the support and solidarity of our Chinese readers in Hong Kong. In particular, we are grateful to Apple Daily for the prominent story today 22nd September 2006 in its news pages:
(Translation by EastWestSouthNorth)
Tycoon Li Ka-shing and his second son Richard Li may not coordinate with each too well in business, but they are unified against outside insults. A website critical of the Li's appears to have been blocked by Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Global Communications and Richard Li's Netvigator. The users of those two ISP's have been unable to access the website. The Office of Telecommunications Authority has received 24 complaints. The two companies both denied blocking their users from accessing the website. A Legislative Council member pointed out that there is suspicion of interfering with freedom of information flow and asked the government to investigate.
The website suspected of being blocked by the two large ISP's is ntscmp.com, which was started in 1997. The website uses sarcasm and humor to poke fun at social ills without being afraid of the rich and powerful. As such, it is relatively well-known.
The website owner George Adams stated recently on the website that some netizens claimed to be unable to access the website recently. After his investigation, it was found that only Netvigator and Hutchison users were affected. He suspected that those two companies were blocking the website and called for netizens to complain to the OFTA.
Netizens were outraged by large financial groups blocking independent websites. Many well-known blogs such as Mister Bijou and EastSouthWestNorth have commented on this case, and the local website InMediaHK has also reported on this. The HK Golden discussion forum carried heated responses, with people saying that this is the typical Li style. But there were also users of those two companies who claimed to be able to access the website. Our reporter tested yesterday with Netvigator and Hutchison, and failed to get on.
George Adams told us that he checked his computer and server and both were working normally. Furthermore, netizens outside of Hong Kong were not affected, so the two ISP's are the most likely culprits. He has inquired at both ISP's. Netvigator said that everything is normal while Hutchison has not replied. He said that his website uses humor mostly to comment on the Li's without being malicious. The most recent creation is a collage of photographs that referred to Richard Li as a "twat," and that may be the cause for the blocking. He also described this affair as "disgusting censorship."
Both Netvigator and Hutchison have denied blocking their users from visiting anti-Li websites. They said that some users can visit that website normally. The OFTA has received 24 complaints so far, and the OFTA spokesperson claimed that if ISP's deliberately block information flow against the law, the highest penalty is a fine of up to HK$20,000 and two years in prison.
Charles Mok, Chairperson of the Internet Society Hong Kong, said that he heard about the case and preliminary investigation showed that several Hong Kong ISP's have encountered similar situations for unknown reasons. "It may be that the ISP filtered the information, but another possibility is that there is a problem with the website itself." He said that it is easier to trace from the server side. Fan Kwok-fai, executive director of the Hong Kong Information Technology and Network Engineers Association, said that ISP's can easily block users from visiting certain websites and it is hard for third parties to do so. However, the actual situation can only be determined after investigation.
Sin Chung-kai, Hong Kong Legislative Council member and chairman of the committee Information Technology and Communication Affairs, pointed out that the incident involves possibly restraint on the free flow of information and the authorities should investigate it quickly and prosecute if appropriate.
NTSCMP remained unavailable on Netvigator today but there were reports of availability on Now Broadband and HGC.
THE KEY FACTS OF THE PCCW CENSORSHIP
Despite a number of urgent queries from the Press in Hong Kong and from our readers and supporters (local and expatriate) there has been no explanation from Netvigator or HGC Broadband for the following facts:
1. No one can access ntscmp.com using Netvigator or HGC in Hong Kong.
2. Every other server can access ntscmp.com.
3. Using Netvigator, one can access other web sites housed at our server FortuneCity. com, all except ntscmp.com.
4. One can access ntscmp.com only using a proxy browser on Netvigator.
5. Our international readership has no problem accessing ntscmp.com and our server reports no problems.
You don't have to be a lateral thinker to deduce that we are being blocked. Thank you for your many e-mails and actions of support. Various means of protest are being considered. In the meantime, please do e-mail Netvigator/HGC and enquire of ntscmp.com at PCCW shops.
OUTRAGE AT PCCW/HGC ACTION CONTINUES
"As soon as the news of Richard Li buying out the long-established Hong Kong Economic Journal came out a few months ago, I privately commented that this was something Hong Kong people should be concerned about. I just couldn't bring myself to believe that commercial interest was what the young Li was aiming for, despite his pretentious claim. As if to confirm my worry, now this episode of the "Lis' blocking your website! It would not be long before that Chinese newspaper turns into a mouthpiece for the Li family (and perhaps the SAR government!)!! "
"I've been amused and entertained by NTSCMP for eight years and find the PCCW pogrom absolutely astonishing. Richard Li really is the bumbling idiot-savant that he appears to be. I'll be contacting PCCW to convey my feelings."
FIGHTING FUND OR PETITION ?
We have been very touched by your messages of support and suggestions of action to be taken in the face of what is quite obviously a deliberate decision by the Li Ka Shing family to block access to our site. These messages have come from the USA, other international readers and from unexpected sources in Hong Kong.
We would like to particularly thank JA for this:
I've been an on again, off again reader (I read Hemlock more) of your good site for a few years now and am amazed/appalled at the fact that they have blocked it on my Netvigator account except via alternative means. If you are going to fight this please be aware that there are many people who will help out financially if you need to take it to court. Censorship must not win for any reason and to use it when trying to cover up petty vanities and other issues as outlined on your site is preposterous.
and we were equally impressed by the following letter of complaint to OFTA, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority:
I am a
subscriber of PCCW's Netvigator service.
Recently, I have attempted to access the website www.ntscmp.com but was
unable to. At first, I thought the website was down.
But then it came to my attention that the website was still
running, but it
had been blocked by PCCW. I was prevented by PCCW from accessing
ntscmp.com
from my Netvigator account. I confirmed this by accessing the
website at
work, and found it to be working normally.
The administrator of ntscmp.com claims the site is being
purposely blocked
by PCCW. HGC have also blocked the site.
I am very upset that PCCW has decided to censor what I may access
on the
internet. I am a paying subscriber and I am entitled to access
any internet
site I wish. I cannot easily switch to another service provider,
as I live
in Causeway Bay and there are few others.
Please do
something about this at once. I believe PCCW may be in violations
of its licence conditions.
We urge Netvigator users,
HGC Broadband subscribers and other readers to adapt this letter
and send an e-mailed copy to: consumercomplaint@ofta.gov.hk as soon as possible. Thank you.
At our end, we are still waiting for PCCW to explain to us why it and its sister service provider have simply gone into the Mainland blocked web site game in a society which is supposed to have freedom of speech. Watch this space as long as you can.
Dr George Adams, for NTSCMP.
PS: Netvigator and HGC Broadband users can access NTSCMP via a proxy browser such as this.
PPS: Some years ago the SCMP tried to stop us by demanding we remove their pics and logos. They failed.