Not Fighting Hacking With Hacking

It seems "hackers from China" is a common news story these days, but a fascinating article on the The New York Times added more perspective and details based on a recent study:

An unusually detailed 60-page study, to be released Tuesday by Mandiant, an American computer security firm, tracks for the first time individual members of the most sophisticated of the Chinese hacking groups — known to many of its victims in the United States as “Comment Crew” or “Shanghai Group” — to the doorstep of the military unit’s headquarters. The firm was not able to place the hackers inside the 12-story building, but makes a case there is no other plausible explanation for why so many attacks come out of one comparatively small area.

“Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398,” said Kevin Mandia, the founder and chief executive of Mandiant, in an interview last week, “or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored Internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighborhood.”

The full article can be found in English here and in Chinese (simplified) here.

The AP reports on a possible response:

As public evidence mounts that the Chinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of U.S. government data and corporate trade secrets, the Obama administration is eyeing fines and other trade actions it may take against Beijing or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.

According to officials familiar with the plans, the White House will lay out a new report Wednesday that suggests initial, more-aggressive steps the U.S. would take in response to what top authorities say has been an unrelenting campaign of cyberstealing linked to the Chinese government.

The full article can be found here.

I'll refrain from commenting on the hacking incidents other than to say they don't sound good and China is not the only country connected to large scale cyberstealing. But the U.S. not "fighting fire with fire" and instead responding with other measures to deter hacking has inspired me to share a personal experience.

While living in a college dormitory many years ago, I became the owner of a new top-of-line computer. I think it had more than 100 MB of hard drive space. Many of my friends thought I would never be able to fill it up. Ah, the good old days...

It was not long before I discovered signs someone had inappropriately accessed my computer and caused some minor mischief. I could not fully control access to my shared dorm room, so I added a layer of security to my computer. But I soon discovered that someone had found their way through it. I then had a suspect in mind since there was only one person living in my section of the dorm who had both the skills and the mindset to do it. When I saw him next, I asked him to stop. Although he did not explicitly admit to it, his response left me all the more sure he was the culprit.

Not having faith my request would have the desired effect, I added yet another layer of security to my computer. However, it was not long before I discovered it too had been "cracked". I then researched other possible security measures and came to a disturbing conclusion: even I could imagine a way through the best security I discovered. Securing my computer seemed impossible, and I had no desire to engage in a hacking battle.

Clearly, it was time to "think outside of the box".

In this case, what first came to mind as a nonconstructive immediate response provided the seed for a possible solution. I walked down the hall and into the room of the suspect. I explained to him that I was not aware of any security for my computer that could stop him from accessing it. And in a tone that left no doubt about my seriousness I added, "If you ever touch my computer again, I'm taking a hammer to yours."

He looked stunned. I walked out.

I'm not saying this provides the blueprint for the best response, or even a feasible one, in all cases. But in this case...

I had no more problems.

The Internet Versus Xiaolongbao

I'm used to hearing complaints in China, particularly by foreigners fresh off the plane, about the speed of Internet connections. But I've recently noticed a number of people in the U.S. complaining about services there as well. It is a reminder to me that not all is entirely "smooth" even back in my homeland.

It also reminds me of when I signed up for Internet service for my apartment in Shanghai a number of years ago. Some Chinese friends encouraged me to seek out cheaper "unofficial" services, but I wanted to do it by the book and went to the local China Telecom branch. A service representative there explained to me that three data speeds were offered. As I considered them, the representative added that there was no reason to chose the fastest / most expensive option. I asked why, and she quietly told me the speed would actually be the same as the middle option.

I pondered life and humanity. Quickly realizing I wasn't going to get anywhere useful with that line of thought, I then weighed the possibility that the woman was correct versus the possibility that she was mistaken--for example, maybe the service quality varied across different regions. I also considered that the difference in price between the middle and most expensive options was at the time roughly around US $1.50 per month.

I decided it was worth giving the fastest option a try. I wish I could say for sure what went through the representative's mind, but based on her facial expressions I feel safe saying it wasn't anything like "Brilliant choice, oh wise one".

When a technician later set up the service at my apartment, he had me connect to a local site which could measure the speed of the connection. It reported a speed consistent with what China Telecom (but not the service representative) had promised. Even in my optimistic state, I looked at the numbers with skepticism. Nonetheless, I heartily thanked the man who had brought me my connection to the world (well, at least with the aid of a VPN).

My later experiences dealing with an Internet connection that often crawled along at speeds much slower than a giant centipede in Hong Kong convinced me the kind service representative had been correct. However, if I had listened to her I may have always wondered if things might be a little better if I had gone with the "faster" option. So maybe it was still money well spent. But then again, you could buy a rather healthy portion of xiaolongbao for a $1.50 in those days.

Assorted Links: Tech in Southeast Asia, Car Pollution, Borders, and a Homemade Dialysis Machine

There is an ever growing list of pieces that I want to comment on here. So that they all don't get stuck in a bottomless pit due to waiting for time to write the more extensive posts they deserve, I will share a few of them together along with some brief comments.

1. As recent posts here make clear, I have spent the past several weeks in Malaysia. I won't deny that its weather, food, and scenery were a draw. But I was also curious to take a closer look at a key country in a diverse region becoming increasingly relevant for tech companies--somewhat symbolized by an airport in Thailand being the most photographed location on Instagram.

Jon Russell shared his optimism for Southeast Asia in his article "Why Southeast Asia is the world’s most exciting region for startups and tech in 2013" on The Next Web. One of the challenges he mentioned for local startups particularly caught my eye:

Society in many Southeast Asian countries values working for big companies (‘getting the lanyard’), not to mention that few startups can compete against the salary and compensation packages that multinationals and other large businesses can offer.

This reminded me of some of the advantages multinational tech companies with foreign headquarters once enjoyed over local companies in China. It is remarkable how much the landscape has changed in recent years. To keep things brief, for now I will just say that what companies offer and what people seek will continue to evolve. In both respects, a growing variety can be found in China.

2. Michael Dunne, president of Dunne & Company, a Hong Kong-based consultancy specializing in Asian car markets, wrote a post for the China Real Time Report about the growing contribution of cars to China's pollution and the challenges faced in reducing their impact. It raises several key issues, such as why electrical vehicles in China may be best considered as "coal-burning cars". He also addresses why a seemingly simple tactic--reducing pollution by improving the quality of fuel used by vehicles--is not so simple:

Fuel prices are set by the state ostensibly to protect the economy – and especially the rural areas – from affordability shocks.

State-owned oil companies China National Petroleum Corp and Sinopec have been reluctant to invest in world-class refineries that produce high quality fuel because doing so would increase costs that they cannot pass on to the consumer

As I've written before, although the pollution related to China's rapid growth is shared by many, the growth of wealth it represents has not been as equally distributed. "The wealthy" subsidizing (in one way or another) the costs of producing high quality fuel could be one way to acknowledge and partially address this problem. Not only would it help people who truly could not afford an increase in fuel prices, but it would help everyone breathe a little bit better. But like other potential solutions, despite some outside impressions of how China operates it is not a change that could be made with the flip of a switch.

3. In FT Magazine Simon Kuper shares and comments on Valerio Vincenzo's photo essays about borders. Much of the article is about the lack of barriers today at the borders between many European countries. Kuper contrasts these open borders with the past and with today's more restrictive borders elsewhere in the world.

As I read Kuper's article and paged through Vincenzo's thought-provoking photos, I considered some borders not mentioned in the article that I have mentioned before: the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and the border between Macau and Zhuhai. Both of these borders are remarkable because they restrict the travel of mainland Chinese within their own country. Anyone in Switzerland or Germany can dine at a table straddling the countries' border without needing to show a passport, but mainland Chinese cannot even enter Hong Kong or Macau with only their passport and typically need a special permit (or proof of an onward flight and entry visa to another country). And I can only wish you good luck if you wish to try having a meal which spreads across the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

4. In the category of "Chinese resourcefulness" is a story first reported by Chai Huiqun in China's newspaper Southern Weekly. You can read it in Chinese here. Or you can read Xinhua's English article by Hou Qiang "Homemade dialysis machine sustains uremia sufferer for 13 years":

A sufferer of uremia for 20 years, Hu [Songwen] built his own hemodialysis machine with medical equipment, such as a blood pump and plastic tubing, that he purchased from a local market. The crude device has sustained his life since he stopped going to the hospital 13 years ago. Hu was a junior in college when he was diagnosed with uremia in 1993. After six years of medical treatment, hefty hospital bills completely depleted his family's savings.

See Caixing Online here (H/T Malcolm Moore) for photos of Hu and his machine.

The story reminds me of research conducted by former colleagues. I'll just say designers of medical technology can learn much from cases such as Hu, both in terms of the challenges some people face in China and how people sometimes overcome those challenges.

And that's all for this edition of assorted links.

Tech Shirts For Sale at the Kek Lok Temple in Malaysia

One can't-miss feature of the Kek Lok Temple in Penang, Malaysia, is the new numerous shops, whether those enclosing the steps to the temple's entrance...

... or those inside the temple complex.

Temple-related items were sold, but a variety of other goods could be found as well.

T-shirts appeared to be one of the more popular items to sell. Some included messages that left me curious about the design process used to create them.

In that respect, they were similar to many I have seen in China, although they had a different flavor. However, a specific set of shirts stood out to me.

I saw shirts with the Apple, Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Yahoo brands. Penang is an area with a great deal of Chinese influence, both historically and in its current culture. But in and around its most famous temple I didn't see a single shirt for a China-based technology brand such as Baidu, Sina Weibo, WeChat (Weixin), Xiaomi, Youku, or QQ. Especially since these shirts were sold in markets that target tourists, before commenting on what this might mean I would want to take a closer look at who purchases such shirts and whether these and similar shirts are sold elsewhere in Penang.

But at the very least these shirts are symbolic of the relative influence of American and Chinese technology brands in many regions outside of China--even where there are many Chinese people.

More on this topic later.

Thinking Outside the Internet

Much of the research for guiding the design of improved and new technologies focuses on how people use existing technologies. However, knowing what people are doing and thinking when they are not using a technology can also be valuable. To provide a sense of how this is true, I will share two examples of research relevant to online services. The first is about a company familiar to many, and the second is about my own research.

In the MIT Technology Review Tom Simonite discussed his involvement in a recent user research project conducted by Google:

For three days last month, at eight randomly chosen times a day, my phone buzzed and Google asked me: “What did you want to know recently?” The answers I provided were part of an experiment involving me and about 150 other people. It was designed to help the world’s biggest search company understand how it can deliver information to users that they’d never have thought to search for online.

Billions of Google searches are made every day—for all kinds of things—but we still look elsewhere for certain types of information, and the company wants to know what those things are.

“Maybe [these users are] asking a friend, or they have to look up a manual to put together their Ikea furniture,” says Jon Wiley, lead user experience designer for Google search. Wiley helped lead the research exercise, known as the Daily Information Needs Study.

If Google is to achieve its stated mission to “organize the world's information and make it universally accessible,” says Wiley, it must find out about those hidden needs and learn how to serve them. And he says experience sampling—bugging people to share what they want to know right now, whether they took action on it or not—is the best way to do it. “Doing that on a mobile device is a relatively new technology, and it’s getting us better information that we really haven’t had in the past,” he says.

In the pursuit of improving its online services, Google is looking beyond its own invaluable data on online behavior and trying to understand its users' needs even when they are not using Google's online services. Read the article here for more thoughts about how this research might impact what Google offers.

Sometimes the "hidden needs" Jon Wiley mentioned can be first suggested in what is openly displayed on a wall. In a post about a dormitory room at Changsha's Central South University of Forestry and Technology, I wrote I would later "provide a small taste of how visiting these rooms can aid in the design of new technologies". One example can seen in the bulletin board I noticed in the back of the room.

The four female students who lived in the room used the board to post notes with their hopes, feelings, questions, and inspirational messages. One note expressed a student's desire to have enough money to treat her roommates to a meal at KFC as she had previously promised. Another expressed a student's sadness due to missing her boyfriend.

So many questions can now be asked, such as:

• Why are they posting these particular messages on this bulletin board?
• Did they also share these thoughts online? If not, why not?
• Do other people post notes in a similar manner?
• Are there other places where they share their thoughts?

Researching these and other questions has taken me to many more places in China than a single dorm room in Changsha. Although those places don't exist on the Internet, the stories they tell provide clues about what a variety of online services could offer and how they should be designed.

These examples of Google's and my own research provides hints of the value in conducting research that pushes beyond what may seem to be obvious boundaries. A common phrase people use to try to inspire innovation is "think outside the box". In the case of designing online services, it can be better to say "think outside the Internet".

A New Google Phone in China

Google fans, are you seeking a way to better show your passion for Google? If so, then I may have seen the phone for you at a shop in Changsha, Hunan province.

Of course, the Google phone seen above runs Android--in this case OS version 2.3.7.

If you are not sold on the Android experience, though, when turning on the phone you can chose to have it simulate an iPhone-like interface instead (warning: some may now question whether you are a true Google fan).

The back of the phone's box provides more details about it, including the wide range of colors available (it also lists a slightly different OS version than what the phone itself reported).

The woman who showed me the phone was quick to say it was not made by Google. Curiously, the box did not indicate the real brand but did include the Google name in the upper-right corner.

However, booting up the phone identified the brand as Awang (A王).

Has Awang received approval from Google to use its name on the phone? I have not asked Google, but I see signs Awang has not followed some of Google's published trademark guidelines. So Google fans, maybe you might want to buy a Google wooden cricket set instead.

I don't plan to conduct an in-depth review of the phone, so just two more quick points:

• Even if Google did not grant permission for their name to be used on this phone, they can find some solace in the fact a Chinese company presumably believed that using the Google name could benefit their sales in China.
• I doubt the Google phone will be making an appearance at the "Android Store" I saw in Zhuhai, especially since all the phones being sold there were made by well-known brands. I'd say Awang has a long ways to go before reaching that stage.

More later about the other mobile phones I have seen for sale in Changsha and how they compare to what I have seen elsewhere in China (see here and here for earlier examples of mobile phones "borrowing" Apple's trademarks). And I will also soon share some thoughts about recent news relating to a more pressing concern for Google. Although Google might approve of the Chinese government blocking sales of this Awang phone, overall Google would be thrilled to see less, not more, blocking in China.

Useful and Trendy iPads for Selling Memories

Sometimes what matters most about technology is what it enables you to do.

Two employees holding Apple iPads with sample photos for a marriage photography studio in Changsha, China

Sometimes what matters most about technology is being fashionable.

Outer Space, International Internet Regulations, and Invading North Koreans

Since I may never get around to writing the full commentary several pieces I recently read deserve, I want to at least make sure I share some of them here before they gather too much dust:

1. There have been a steady stream of stories about China's various disputed claims to islands near or not so near its undisputed borders. This combined with America's recent success of landing a large rover on Mars had me pondering a related question: Does China have plans to make any territorial claims if it places people or a piece of equipment on the Moon or Mars even though no other countries have made any such claims (at least not yet)?

I am happy to see that someone has given this question deeper analysis. Based on what he wrote in Foreign Policy, it appears that John Hickman woud agree that I am not crazy for pondering such an issue:

You might be asking: Why on God's green Earth would Beijing want to colonize the moon? The crazy thing is that, if one analyzes China's interests and the relevant international law, the Chinese moon scenario seems not only plausible but smart.

And even though there is an international treaty protecting objects such as the Moon and Mars from territorial claims, it has a rather large loophole:

Would a Chinese moon claim even be legal? At the moment, no, but international law would provide only the flimsiest of barriers. Although the 1967 space treaty asserts common ownership of the entire universe beyond Earth's atmosphere, it also permits signatory states to withdraw from its terms with only a year's notice. And there's no law governing whether you can fly a rocket to the moon and land a ship there.

Read the article for more about why China may have some hopes for expansion much farther away than any currently disputed islands.

2. Outer space is not the only place where there may be changes in international agreements. The same holds true for the Internet. Rebecca MacKinnon in Foreign Policy points out that a variety of interests are at stake in making changes to the institutions which play important international roles in regulating the Internet:

China, Russia, and many developing countries have complained for nearly two decades that the new, nongovernmental multistakeholder institutions are dominated by Americans and Western Europeans who manipulate outcomes to serve their own commercial and geopolitical advantage. These critiques converge with the interests of former and current state-owned phone companies wanting to restore revenues of yore before email and Skype wiped out the need for most international phone calls.

Read MacKinnon's article for an overview of how some countries may have reasonable gripes and how nothing less than the Internet's current openness is at stake.

3. A soon-to-be-released remake of the movie Red Dawn will include a major plot change -- North Korea, not Russia, will be invading the U.S. Max Fisher in The Atlantic details several factual mistakes in the movie. Needless to say (I hope), the idea of North Korea invading the U.S. requires a great deal of imagination. In fact, so much is required that Fisher suspects some viewers will replace North Korea with China in their minds. But even though China is far more powerful than North Korea, Fisher explains why the U.S. still has little to fear:

China has no incentive to attack America, its most important trade partner and thus the central pillar in the economic growth strategy around which its entire polity is organized, and every incentive not to. Even if China did want to attack, its military isn't nearly strong enough. And even if it were strong enough, some analysts say it is too riddled with internal problems.

Read Fisher's article in full for more details about why the U.S. is unlikely to be seeing thousands of red parachutes any time soon -- whether they may be made in mainland China or on Mars.

The Fate of the Android Store in Zhuhai, China

Update at end

More than four months have passed since I first posted about the "Android store" I stumbled upon after I took a random bus trip in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. One issue some people raised was whether its days were numbered due to possible actions from Google. But I assumed that the store, like many unauthorized Apple stores in China, would not face any immediate interference.

Last week I happened to be in Zhuhai, so I returned to its Nanping district to checkup on the now semi-famous store. At first glance, it did not appear much had changed:

Still there

The inside of the store was also mostly the same as before. One difference was that there were no Apple computers for sale -- only iPads and iPhones were available (see here for earlier photos from inside the store). Another difference also caught my eye. The staff were wearing store shirts:

She was happy to have her photograph taken.

Sorry, the shirts are not available for purchase.

The Android robot is displayed on the front of the shirt, Apple's logo is on the right sleeve, and Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, and iOS are on the back of the shirt. Given the store's sign, it seems fitting that Android is the most prominently featured brand, even in the shirt's color. It is worth nothing that what appears to be the name of the store on the shirt is the same as the Chinese words which appear underneath the Android logos on the store's main sign.

Although finding that the store still existed did not surprise me, there was something else I was less sure about. Would the store inspire others?

I found the answer at another store just down the street. Here it is as I saw it several months ago:

One of the many stores in the area with a Nokia sign

But the store has since undergone a bit of a makeover:

The large Nokia sign on the outside of the store has been replaced with the Android robot and what is presumably the store's Chinese name (which is similar to the other store's Chinese name and also does not include the Chinese word for "android"). The Nokia sign on the inside of the store has been replaced with a Samsung sign. Another outside face of the store is now partly in the Apple style, but it curiously includes the Android logos on the middle column. However, this mix of Apple and Android may not be so surprising since this same store previously had an ad for the iPhone that included a singing Android robot.

I will refrain from any deep commentary. I simply wanted to share that not only does the original Android store remain, but it appears to have an imitator.

And now I wonder if more will soon appear.



UPDATE: A little over a year later, much had changed. See "The Fate of the Android Store in Zhuhai, China: Part II" for more.

Eric Schmidt's Comments on China: The Risks for Google

In the previous post, I discussed recent comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt that link freedom of expression to economic strength. One could worry that Schmidt's claims, such as those about the inevitability of the "political and social liberalization that will fundamentally change the nature of the Chinese government's relationship to its citizenry", could be seen as threatening to the Chinese government and create more problems for Google (more on Schmidt's comments by Josh Rogin here). However, although the Chinese government is very unlikely to be pleased or respond positively, I am not convinced that Schmidt made a mistake in publicly expressing his views. The following provides some of the reasons I feel this way (not intended to be a full review of what is a complex situation with many layers).

What type of risks do Schmidt's comments present for Google?

Some of Google's major services, such as YouTube, are already blocked in China. Even many of Google's services that are "available" face regular interference from China's Great Firewall. Schmidt mentioned a reason he has little optimism for improvements in the near future:

"It's probably the case where the Chinese government will continue to make it difficult to use Google services," said Schmidt. "The conflict there is at some basic level: We want that information [flowing] into China, and at some basic level the government doesn't want that to happen."

Despite the challenges for their online services, according to Google it "continues to thrive" in China (video of Bloomberg interview with Daniel Alegre, president of Google's Asia-Pacific division, here). One of the brighter spots for Google in China is selling global ads to Chinese companies. It seems unlikely these sales would be impacted by Schmidt's comments (Bill Bishop has made this point as well). What happens to Google's services in China has no effect on its services elsewhere in the world. Chinese companies' desire for ad space in foreign markets will likely only increase. Similar to what I discussed in my post last year comparing Google Maps and Baidu Map, Google can offer a world's worth more than any Chinese online service.

Given the already existing problems for Google services in China, a bleak outlook in the near future for the change Google apparently awaits, and at least one of Google's key sources of revenue in China not likely being affected, Google does not have as much to lose in the short term as it could first seem.

The possible benefits to Google if China "strikes back"

Even if China decides to retaliate against Google's online services in China, it could still be to Google's net advantage, particularly in the long term. Some people will positively view Schmidt's comments as evidence that Google is willing to forsake profits in order to hold true to more idealistic aims. Such a view could be strengthened or further considered if China reacts in an obvious manner.

Although any immediate benefit may be most clearly seen in markets such as the U.S., where railing against China's censorship is well received by many, there could also be benefits in China. To be clear, many in China will never see Schmidt's comments. Regardless, the comments can serve as a reminder or signal to a valuable segment of Google's users (and potential users) in China who do hear them and are sympathetic to Schmidt's beliefs and hopes (see the previous post for how tying freedom of expression to China's economy could be relevant in this regards). Schmidt's comments can be yet another drop in the bucket to let people feel "Google still cares". If censorship eventually fails in China as Schmidt expects, Google's consistent strong voice on this topic could provide it with a core block of users/supporters serving as a valuable seed for future growth.

A long term evaluation required

As I wrote before, one of Schmidt's likely hopes is for Google to be prepared for the changes that he believes are inevitable but may not occur in the immediate future. His comments and Google's recent actions suggest they are thinking long term, particularly in regards to the online services they offer (or wish to offer) in China. Although there are other points to consider (for example, I have not touched on Android nor on other ways the Chinese government could respond), the above points suggest there is reason to believe that not only will Schmidt's comments not cause Google great harm, but they could even provide benefits.

Twitter for Good in Shanghai

While waiting to meet a friend at a mall in Shanghai's Pudong district I briefly stopped by a small English language bookstore. Although Shanghai has mobile bookstores, there are reasons, such as quality, fakes, and selection, to buy books from more reputable dealers.

During my visit to the store, I noticed one section labeled "Chinese Related":

It contained a variety of books that did not seem to fit the category, but a book about Twitter in this row especially caught my attention:

"Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time" by Claire Diaz-Ortiz, who "lead[s] social innovation at Twitter", has been described:

As recent events in Japan, the Middle East, and Haiti have shown, Twitter offers a unique platform to connect individuals and influence change in ways that were unthinkable only a short time ago. In Twitter for Good, Claire Diaz Ortiz, Twitter’s head of corporate social innovation and philanthropy, shares the same strategies she offers to organizations launching cause-based campaigns. Filled with dynamic examples from initiatives around the world, this groundbreaking book offers practical guidelines for harnessing individual activism via Twitter as a force for social change.

Similar to how Facebook's popularity as a political tool in Taiwan likely caught the attention of mainland Chinese officials, the realization that Twitter allows individuals to join together and be a "force for social change" is likely at least part of the reason the online social networking service is now blocked in China.

So it could be expected that Twitter for Good would also be unavailable in China. But in addition to the bookstore I visited it is (currently) listed for sale on the Chinese online retail website 360buy and the Chinese online auction websites Paipai, and Taobao. It is also listed on Douban -- a Chinese social networking service website "allowing registered users to record information and create content related to movies, books, and music". However, no copies appear to be listed on several major online retailers for books such as Dangdang, 99 Online Bookstore, or Amazon.com China, despite those sites offering other books about Twitter such as Twitter Revolution. Regardless of whether or not there is a ban on Twitter for Good, it appears to be openly sold in China. Like the availability of other books about Twitter -- in English and Chinese -- it highlights the fuzziness of the line between what is and is not censored there.

Despite the Chinese government's concerns, there are signs that there are agencies with hopes for online social networking services in China -- particularly Sina Weibo. Unlike Twitter, Sina Weibo's ability and willingness to quickly censor its content per the Chinese government's desires provides a degree of control. This control combined with Sina Weibo's large reach can make it a attractive tool. For example, after an incident of a seriously injured girl being ignored by numerous passersby government officials reached out through Weibo:

The Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the CPC Guangdong Committee on Tuesday published a message on Weibo calling for citizens to make suggestions on how the law could better assist those who offer help to people in danger.

The message read: "Please stop the coldness. Guangdong province is going to hold a discussion to criticize the behavior of leaving people in mortal danger out of indifference, and to advocate the spirit to lend a hand to those who need help. Your advice may be written into the province's legislative rules."

Maybe those Chinese officials could learn something useful from Twitter for Good to improve their efforts on Sina Weibo. In that sense, maybe Twitter for Good is indeed "Chinese Related".

Regardless, although Diaz-Ortiz would likely appreciate her books being read by more people in China (especially if the books are not unlicensed copies), she may prefer something even simpler that could also potentially aid positive social change in China -- unblocking Twitter.

In China Even Free Internet is not Free

Upon arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport I saw the above scene. The Chinese words "免费上网" on the sign posts were unambiguous in their meaning: no payment was required to surf online. Yet another interpretation of the English translation "Free Internet" still caused a slight glimmer of hope to enter my mind.

So I checked a computer to see whether at this supposedly modern international airport one could access some of the world's most popular websites -- YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. I quickly found that China's Great Firewall was blocking these sites as usual. Somewhat ironically, the vast majority of international flights from the airport could take me to places where I would find no such censorship.

I was not at all surprised by what I found, but nonetheless the experience dampened the excitement of returning to Shanghai. Free Internet at an airport is wonderful to see. If only it were also free.

The New York Times in Chinese with Twitter & Facebook

The New York Times has unveiled a new Chinese-language web site at cn.nytimes.com. As Christine Haughney reported, the Times will not adjust its news coverage despite targeting readers in a place where there is significant censorship, mainland China:

The Times Company, which is well aware of the censorship issues that can come up in China, stressed that it would not become an official Chinese media company. The Times has set up its server outside China and the site will follow the paper’s journalistic standards. Mr. Kahn said that while the Chinese government occasionally blocked certain articles from nytimes.com, he was hopeful that the Chinese government would be receptive to the Chinese-language project.

“We’re not tailoring it to the demands of the Chinese government, so we’re not operating like a Chinese media company,” Mr. Kahn said. “China operates a very vigorous firewall. We have no control over that. We hope and expect that Chinese officials will welcome what we’re doing.”

Although the Times claims it will not be "tailoring it to the demands of the Chinese government" there are several signs that design changes have been made to better suit Chinese readers. One obvious example is the ability to easily share articles on popular online services in mainland China such as Sina Weibo, QQ, and Renren.

As seen in the above example (from the article here), options are also available to share on Twitter and Facebook -- notable since both of these services are currently blocked in mainland China. If either of those options are selected while behind China's Great Firewall it is not possible to post the article. It is also notable that there does not appear to be a button to share articles on Google+, an option that is readily available on the main www.nytimes.com site.

However, people in mainland China may not be the only Chinese readers being targeted with the site as evidenced by the option for displaying the text in Traditional Chinese. That is the style of characters commonly used in a number of Chinese-speaking areas outside of mainland China, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. In those places Twitter and Facebook are freely available.

I tested posting articles onto Twitter while using a VPN in China to get through China's Great Firewall and had no problem. However, I ran into a problem when I tested the Facebook option. For any article I tried I was brought to this page:

I have never heard of Paulie Sharer, and I wonder whether his last name is somehow tied to this obvious error. A quick online search suggests that the problem is not specific to me nor the Times, but at this point there is not much more I can say definitively. Although I am sure this is not the result the Times desires, I can only imagine whether Paulie Sharer is noticing an unusual number of friend requests.

Regardless, I consider it a positive that The New York Times will be able to reach more readers in mainland China. And many will be watching to see if China later blocks the site -- just like what recently happened to Bloomberg's news site (H/T Edward Wong).

Tibetan Monks, iPhones, and Luxury in China

Yesterday, I visited this mobile phone store in Xining, Qinghai province:

It included a variety of mobile phone brands commonly seen in China, such as Nokia, Oppo, K-Touch, and Apple. It also included some lesser-known brands, some with curious names such as Samzong. The most remarkable experience I had in the store, though, was meeting these three Tibetan Buddhist monks:

In the photo one of the monks can be seen holding an iPhone. In fact, all three had iPhones. To be clear, many Chinese could not afford an iPhone. If monks with iPhones come as a surprise, it is worth noting that some of the store's employees appeared to be surprised as well. The monks were in the store so they could upload new apps to their phones. Behind the monks is a computer where for 60 yuan (about U.S. $10) one can purchase a set of apps for either Apple or Android mobile phones.

In various regions of China I have often seen monks using mobile phones. For example, four years ago in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, I had an excellent vegetarian dinner with this (non-Tibetan) Buddhist monk:

However his mobile was not an iPhone, and not I do not know for sure whether iPhone usage amongst monks is now widespread (I doubt it).

Although they may not be representative of other Tibetan monks, the three men I met in Xining highlight that more and more people in China have an iPhone. This is obviously a good sign for Apple. But some consumers in China (and elsewhere) are at least partly motivated to buy an iPhone due to a desire for "luxury" items that are fashionable. It will be interesting to see whether the iPhone's more widespread adoption impacts their choices.

Finally, the monks' iPhones were not the only thing that caught my eye:

His newly purchased DVD of Colombiana is probably pirated.

iPhones and DVDs of Western movies -- both part of these modern Tibetan monks' lives in Qinghai, China.

Insights and Headaches for Apple: The iPncne in China

As I mentioned before, unauthorized Apple stores are common in many regions of China. At the moment it appears that Apple will only respond to "fake Apple Stores" that take extreme measures to imitate a genuine Apple Store. A related area of concern for companies such as Apple is protecting not how their trademarks are used in stores but on products being sold.

I previously shared an example of a Chinese mobile phone that appeared to inappropriately use some of Apple's trademarks. I will call it the "Think Different Phone". It certainly is not alone in China. For another example, here is a phone I saw for sale in Yinchuan, Ningxia:

It would be hard to believe that the resemblance of the apple logo and the iPncne name to Apple's trademarks is accidental. In the post about the Think Different Phone I discussed how despite their possible trademark infringements such phones can provide insights about features possibly desired in the local market. As an example, similar to the Think Different Phone the iPncne has a dedicated button for QQ -- a popular social networking service in China:

But what I believe can be an even more important feature is found inside the phone:

The capability of this iPncne to hold dual SIM cards would matter to many Chinese mobile phone users. For an example of why, see my post from last year "Mobile Phones in China: Local Rates, Fashion, and Fakes".

Even for the many Chinese-designed phones not noticeably violating any trademarks, "localizations" such as the above can indicate features desired not only in China but elsewhere as well. But regardless of any insights the iPncne may provide, Apple is probably still concerned about protecting its trademarks. Even if the apple logo and iPncne name do not cross the line for Apple, I think there is something on the back of the phone that would be hard for them to accept:

In small print below the iPncne name is written:

Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China

At least the second half of the line seems true. I have not contacted Apple for comment about the first half. I suspect their private comments would be much more interesting.

Dell Store (and Uniforms) in Yinchuan, China

Yesterday, I shared some examples of unauthorized Apple resellers in Yinchuan, Ningxia. Although I have posted several times about Apple, it is not my intent to express any particular favoritism for the brand.

Partly in that spirit, I will share a few photos of a store selling Dell products that I also saw in Yinchuan:

Although it is very common to see Dell computers for sale in China, this store caught my eye because it is not so common to see an independent store dedicated to only Dell products. In my experience, Dell resellers in China are typically located in computer shopping centers with numerous other resellers nearby.

The store also caught my attention because of its outdoor display where two employees were showcasing computers:

I spoke to the owner and she told me the store has been open for 8 years. Furthermore, it had recently undergone renovations, and they had just reopened.

Similar to Apple, Dell provides an online list of authorized retailers in China. However, Dell has many more stores listed. For example, Apple currently lists 1 reseller in Yinchuan. Dell lists 30. At first glance, the above store does not appear to be on the list. But several of the provided addresses are vague, so I am not entirely sure whether it is not included. And I am not familiar with Dell's policies regarding how stores can use the Dell symbols and name, so I have no comment as to whether anything may be amiss.

Finally, I must say there was another detail in the store that caught my attention -- the uniforms for some of the female employees:

I have no idea if those uniforms are Dell standard issue inside or outside of China. If not, do you think they could someday become an example of creative design in China influencing global practices?

More "Fake" Apple Stores In China: Does Apple Care?

[UPDATE at end]

According to recent reports, new genuine Apple Stores will open in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Chengdu. These will be the first Apple Stores outside of Beijing and Shanghai in mainland China. Shenzhen is an intriguing location for a new store since its border has been a significant entry point for Apple products smuggled into mainland China from Hong Kong due to differences in prices and availability.

In addition to several Apple Stores in China, there are numerous authorized resellers of Apple products. But there are many more unauthorized resellers, examples of which I shared here and here. I also shared an example here of an unauthorized reseller with a website nearly identical to Apple's. All of those examples came from Southeast China, so I will now share examples of unauthorized stores in the northwestern city of Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Ningxia is similar in stature to a Chinese province). In addition to serving as evidence that unauthorized resellers are not limited to a specific region of China, they provide an opportunity to discuss some of the concerns Apple may have about such stores.

Like before, I did not deliberately seek out any of these stores. I opportunistically took the photographs on several occasions while I walked around Yinchuan's central Xingqing District. Here are just a few of the stores I saw selling Apple products:

In all of the examples above an Apple logo is prominently displayed in the location above the main entrance where one could expect a store's name, even in China.

Apple's online list of authorized resellers as of today shows only one authorized reseller in all of Yinchuan or anywhere else in Ningxia (note: an employee at the Apple Store in Hong Kong insisted to me that this list is regularly refreshed and reliable). Based on the store's address it is not any of the stores displayed above or later in this post. However, these stores not being listed as authorized is in itself not a problem since it is reportedly not illegal to resell genuine Apple merchandise in China.

Regardless, in a country with so many fake products some consumers may be especially motivated to buy Apple products from stores reviewed and authorized by Apple. That is what makes these other unauthorized stores in Yinchuan even more intriguing:

Although Apple likely does not want stores stating they are authorized resellers when they are not, Apple is likely more concerned about protecting the Apple Store identity. The famous fake Apple Store store in Kunming received attention from Apple not because it was unauthorized, but because of the extreme measures it took to appear as a genuine Apple Store. In short, whether Apple pursues any action against a store in China is probably related to the likelihood a consumer will incorrectly believe they are shopping at a store operated by Apple. A quick estimation based on what I have seen suggests there are thousands of unauthorized Apple resellers in China, many of which may be misusing Apple's trademarks to a variety of degrees. If Apple wished to pursue every potential case it could have a huge challenge ahead of itself. But at the moment I see no indications that Apple will take any significant action unless a store goes to more extreme lengths to imitate a real Apple Store. In that case, Apple has taken a more pragmatic approach and the situation is far more manageable.

The famous store in Kunming crossed several significant lines which made it worthy of Apple's attention. For example, the staff believed they worked for Apple and wore shirts identical to those worn by Apple Store employees. The second factor is why these two stores in Yinchuan particularly caught my attention:

In both stores, employees were wearing shirts that appeared to be similar, if not identical, to the Apple Store shirts.

When I spoke with two of the employees in the second store, I asked them if the store was an "Apple Store". One quickly said it was. Then the second jumped in and said it was not. She explained that their products were genuine and from an official Apple Store in Beijing. She did not believe she worked for Apple. At no point did the employee appear to evade any of my questions, and I never had the impression she was concerned anything might be amiss.

So, are any of the above stores enough to get Apple's attention? All I can say is that in most ways they are not highly unusual in comparison to many other unauthorized stores I have seen. They also did not go to the same extremes as the store in Kunming. Nonetheless, I suspect those Apple Store shirts could cause some feathers to be ruffled at Apple.

I could now go on and on and share examples of stores in other cities in China that to varying degrees may be infringing on the identity of genuine Apple Stores.

Unauthorized store in Lanzhou, Gansu province

Unauthorized store in Xining, Qinghai province

But I shall refrain. I think I have already sufficiently made my point. Again, there are many unauthorized stores across China and it does not appear that Kunming or Southeast China is special in this regards. But based on my experiences, the famous store in Kunming remains a special example.

Finally, I want to give credit where credit is due in Yinchuan, namely this business:

Despite the English mispelling, this Apple Authorized Service Provider is indeed listed in Apple's online locator. Consistent with my observations of what was for sale in Yinchuan's unauthorized stores, it only offers services for iPads, iPhones, and iPods -- no service for Macs. So, Yichuanese can rest assured they have a convenient and authorized option for servicing some of the Apple products they may buy, whether at Yinchuan's single authorized reseller, Yichuan's unauthorized resellers, or elsewhere.


UPDATE: Now tired of seeing "fake" stores? Then maybe the Chinese mobile phone with an apple logo in this post will interest you: "Insights and Headaches for Apple: The iPncne in China".