Reader Response Draft 2

In the article, “Who is the true enemy of Internet freedom-China, Russia, or the US?” (Morozov, 2015), the author discusses the idea of who poses the bigger threat to a free Internet. I agree with the aithor’s position, that China and Russia pose a danger to the free Internet, but America is also a threat despite of its contributions to the Internet.

The author gives examples namely China, Russia, coming up with measures to achieve technological sovereignty. The moves/policies implemented by them may seem as a threat to the “free” Internet. However, I feel that their actions are justified.

China and Russia wish to have control over their own citizens, and to do so, they have taken measures to ensure such. For example, the Great Firewall of China. It is possibly the largest and most extensive case of Internet censorship today. In a country with a population exceeding 1 billion, the Chinese government does not want external influences acting among their people, which may cause unrest. As a result, by implementing the firewall, it is essentially cutting off foreign, namely American, influence on their people. This gives the Chinese government much more control over its people, achieving sovereignty domestically and technologically.

It is also to stake a claim on the Internet. Yes, it may sound absurd to stake a claim on the World Wide Web, as it is an infinite space. However, the Internet is now being overrun with American control and influence, due to the dominance of American Internet companies like Microsoft and Google. Unknowingly, America’s reach has spread to nearly worldwide, having a large stake in the Internet. All 3 nations – America, China and Russia – are global powerhouses, and they have to stamp their authority on the world. America has done so for many years. Now, China and Russia are trying to catch up

One undeniable thing, is that there is a huge American influence over world, via the Internet. Actions have been taken by nations such as China and Russia, for self-defense from a technological perspective. From the article, Morozov states that “the US wants to access data generated by anybody anywhere as long as American companies handle it.” This implies that there is a possibility of America intruding one’s technological sovereignty and privacy. Hence the reactions by nations such as China and Russia, are in return to America’s aggressive move in the first place.

Russia and China also take such measures, as to protect themselves from the vast reaches of the American government. America has been at the centre of many spying incidents, namely the Edward Snowden incident, where details about global surveillance projects carried out by the US had been leaked. This is an example of a far more serious case.

Coming back to a far more general case, “Google is not just a simple search engine. It’s the biggest spying tool ever created.” (Koutonin, 2013) Much data, both sensitive and insensitive is stored on its servers. By pushing the right buttons, all that information may be made available to the American government. This poses as a threat for many nations, especially large nations such as China and Russia. Therefore, measures have to be taken by them, to protect themselves from such activities.

In short, the measures taken by nations such as China and Russia, is to protect themselves, and achieve sovereignty in today’s world. It is to assert dominance and power in a heavily American influenced world. As quoted from Morozov, “the concept of technological sovereignty is poised to emerge as one of the most important and contentious doctrines of 2015.”

Evgeny Morozov (2015, January 4) Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom – China, Russia, or the US?

Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/04/internet-freedom-china-russia-us-google-microsoft-digital-sovereignty

Mawuna Remarquw Koutonin (2013, June 20) Why China and Russia banned Google from their country?

Retrieved from: http://www.siliconafrica.com/why-china-and-russia-banned-google-from-their-country/

Reader Response Draft 1

In the article, “Who is the true enemy of Internet freedom-China, Russia, or the US?” (Morozov, 2015), the author discusses the idea of who poses the bigger threat to a free Internet. I agree with what the author is trying to say, that China and Russia pose a danger to the free Internet, but America is also a threat despite of its contributions to the Internet.

In the article, it gives examples namely China, Russia, coming up with measures to achieve technological sovereignty. However, the moves/policies implemented by them may seem as a threat to the “free” Internet. However, I feel that their actions are justified.

China and Russia wish to have control over their own citizens, and to do so, they have taken measures to ensure such. For example, the Great Firewall of China. They do not want external influences acting among their people, which may cause unrest. Hence by implementing the firewall, it is essentially cutting off foreign, namely American, influence on their people. This gives the Chinese government much more control over its people, achieving sovereignty.

It is also to stake a claim on the Internet. Yes, it may sound absurd to stake a claim on the World Wide Web, as it is an infinite space. However, the Internet is now being overrun with American control and influence, due to the dominance of American Internet companies like Microsoft and Google. Unknowingly, America’s reach has spread to nearly worldwide, having a large stake in the Internet. All 3 – America, China and Russia – are global powerhouses, and they have to stamp their authority on the world. Hence, China and Russia have taken measures to do so.

One undeniable thing, is that there is a huge American influence over world, via the Internet. Actions have been taken by nations such as China and Russia, for self-defense from a technological perspective. From the article, Morozov states that “the US wants to access data generated by anybody anywhere as long as American companies handle it.” This implies that there is a possibility of America intruding one’s technological sovereignty ad privacy. Hence the reactions by nations such as China and Russia, are in return to America’s aggressive move in the first place.

In short, the measures taken by nations such as China and Russia, is to achieve sovereignty in today’s world. It is to assert dominance and power in an heavily-American-influenced world, and achieve sovereignty. As quoted from Morozov, “the concept of technological sovereignty is poised to emerge as one of the most important and contentious doctrines of 2015.”

Summary: Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom – China, Russia, or the US?

In today’s technologically advanced world, technological dominance is set to become a major headline, with major players such as China, Russia and America. Many major nations have imposed regulations on the Internet within their borders. However, they are doing so as to retaliate against the threatening moves employed by America. America has taken much of the cyberspace, and many countries rely heavily on the services provided by American companies. Now, others are trying to gain back their share of the Internet. With the Internet, America’s reach is growing beyond its borders. This is especially true on the Internet, where borders are virtually non-existent.

Morozov states that Russia and China want to access data produced by its people on its soil, but America wants to access data produced by anybody, since American companies handle them.

Essentially, more regulations would be imposed by others, if America continues its threatening ways on the Internet.

Reference

Evgeny Morozov (2015). Who’s the true enemy of Internet freedom – China, Russia or the US? The Guardian

(Word Count – 151)

Paraphrasing and Summarising

A3.1

Latin spread throughout the Roman Empire due to their influence, rather than their larger population advantage.

A3.2

The improved devices were more heatproof and energy-saving. Besides that, they could be simply controlled by themselves with a little human control due to the uncomplicated security features. They could maintain their temperatures to a safe stage in an accident. Specialists recognize that these devices will be operated at a lower price and they will be more environmental friendly in the future development. Thus, it will make people easier to accept them.

B2.2

“An Economic analysis and prediction for the year”

B3.1

There always exists an income gap in every country. To determine the extent, sociologists take into account a variety of factors, from many angles.

B3.2

It is due to the profile of the people speaking the language, rather than the amount of people, that makes it international. It is a result of a combination of factors, such as politics and religion.

C1

Demonstrate Certainty:

Assert, Claim, Insist, State, Reject,

Followed by “That”:

Argue, Assert, Believe, Claim, Insist, mention, Say, Suggest, Propose, Find, Hypothesize, Postulate, Observe, State,

C3

1) Lester (1076) asserts/states that students that students should only make a limited amount of notes in direct quotation in order to help minimize the amount of quotes used.

2) It is hypothesized that the next six months will not be as lucrative, despite the first half of the year being profitable. Purdue Online Writing Lab (2013)

ZhengGuang, CheeHou, Juetong

My English Language Learning Journey.

Coming from Malaysia, I was exposed to many languages from a small age; Chinese, Malay, Cantonese and lastly, English. One may have the stereotypical thinking that every Malaysian Chinese is excellent in Chinese, but in fact I’m the complete opposite. I only had Chinese as my teaching medium for only 1 year, then I switched to an English school. You could say I’ve been exposed to the English language for many years. My friends jokingly call me a banana, yellow (Chinese) on the outside, white (Angmo) on the inside.

Growing up in an English school, I was exposed to much English; both from my teachers and peers. English class was always fun and the teacher was a nice lady. Generally throughout primary school, my English was considerably good.

Coming to Singapore, it was like a whole new world with much to see and do. There were many friends to be made, and things to learn in school. At this period of time in Secondary school, I was more focused on other things such as CCAs and other subjects, like Mathematics and Science. Somehow, English didn’t catch my attention as it did previously. Unknown to me, my progression in English in 4years of secondary school had stalled. I thought I was good enough in it as I obtained a decent grade in my O’s.

In JC, General Paper was one of my hated subjects. I didn’t do well in it for the 2years. I was famous for having “EE”- Expression Error- all over my essays. Eventually I didn’t do as well as hoped, for both A’s and the QET.

Having to do ES1102, I was bummed about it at first, but now I’m just seeing what happens and where it takes me.