US Internet Censorship Fight Falling Short Report

US State Department efforts to combat Internet censorship in China and other countries have fallen short and funding for the drive should be shifted to another US agency...


The delays were partly because some of the most sophisticated ICCT software -- DIT and UltraReach -- was developed by two US companies founded by members of the Falun Gong to allow followers to break through the "Great Firewall"...


The report said DIT and UltraReach have been used to circumvent Internet censorship in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Myanmar and Vietnam...


Congress has given the State Department $50 million for Internet freedom programs since fiscal 2008, the report said, but $30 million remains unspent and little has gone to Internet Censorship Circumvention Technology...


The report said the delays in allocating funding have "strengthened the hands of those governments, including China's, who seek to restrict their citizens' access to information."


Original report from 
“US Internet censorship fight falling short: report”,ABS-CBN News , February 13, 2011,
(http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/print/137540).