States, suggest that some states are already seeking to turn on and off the Internet-filtering
spigot at key moments. The simple proxy-based model, with a corresponding blockpage, will
soon look as dated as a 1980s mainframe computer in a peer-to-peer world. If states persist
in mandating filtering of the Internet, the narrative of China’s on-again, off-again blocking of
Wikipedia will be played out over and over as more citizens of the world build upon the generative Internet.
Notes
1. ‘‘Wikipedia:Size comparisons,’’ Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_comparisons (last accessed
December 28, 2006).
2. ‘‘Wikipedia:Overview FAQ,’’ Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Overview_FAQ (last accessed December 28, 2006).
3. ‘‘Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland China,’’ Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_of_Wikipedia_in
_mainland_China (last accessed December 28, 2006).
4. Ibid.
5. See Jack L. Goldsmith and Tim Wu, Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World, (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006) 65–86; Jack L. Goldsmith, Against Cyberanarchy, 65 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1199 (1998); Jack L.
Goldsmith, The Internet and the Abiding Significance of Territorial Sovereignty, 5 Ind. J. Global Legal Stud. 475
(1998); Jack Goldsmith and Timothy Wu, Digital Borders, Legal Affairs, Jan.–Feb. 2006, available at http://www
.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2006/feature_goldsmith_janfeb06.msp; Jonathan Zittrain, Internet Points
of Control, 44 B.C. L. Rev. 653 (2003); Lawrence Lessig, The Zones of Cyberspace, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 1403 (1996).
6. ONI researcher Stephanie Wang deserves particular credit for her work on this taxonomy.
7. Consider the draft Cyber Crime Act, under consideration in the Kingdom of Thailand, on file with authors. Proposed
section 14 would provide that ‘‘service providers’’ face criminal sanctions if they are aware of various offenses and
‘‘do not manage to immediately erase such computer data.’’
8. § 86 of the German Criminal Code. According to § 4(1) JMStV, online content involving the following is prohibited,
irrespective of whether it is otherwise prohibited under criminal law or other law: 1) Propaganda against the democratic constitutional order (§ 86 of the Criminal Code). 2) Use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations (such as
the swastika, § 86a of the Criminal Code) (an ‘‘unconstitutional organization’’ is essentially an organization that is
against or threatens the principles of a free democratic state). 3) Incitement to hatred and violence against segments of the population or defamation of distinct groups. 4) Denial of the Holocaust or other specific acts perpetrated under the Nazi regime. 5) Depictions of cruel or inhuman violence against humans in a way that glamorizes
such acts or makes light of their gravity—this includes virtual representations. 6) Depictions that instigate or incite
the commission of certain crimes (namely, those defined in § 126(1) of the Criminal Code [Disturbance of the
Peace through the Threat of Perpetrating Criminal Acts]). 7) Glorification of war. 8) Violation of human dignity
through the depiction of human death or mortal suffering. 9) Erotic depictions of minors, including virtual depictions. 10) Pornography involving children, animals, or violence, including virtual depictions. 11) Content that has
been blacklisted by the Federal Commission for Media Harmful to Young Persons or is similar in nature thereto.
Translation and research assistance by Daniel Hausermann and James Thurman of the University of St. Gallen,
Switzerland.
9. ‘‘Why Block by IP Address?’’ Internet Censorship Explorer, http://ice.citizenlab.org/index.php?p=78 (last accessed
January 15, 2007).
10. For instance, IP filtering forces the choice of blocking all sites sharing an IP address. A recent ONI bulletin found
over 3,000 Web sites blocked in an attempt to prevent access to only 31 (see http://www.opennetinitiative.net/
bulletins/009/ [last accessed January 15, 2007]). DNS blocking requires an entire domain and all subdomains to
be either wholly blocked or wholly unblocked (http://ice.citizenlab.org/index.php?p=78 [last accessed January 15,
2007]).
54
Jonathan Zittrain and John Palfrey
spigot at key moments. The simple proxy-based model, with a corresponding blockpage, will
soon look as dated as a 1980s mainframe computer in a peer-to-peer world. If states persist
in mandating filtering of the Internet, the narrative of China’s on-again, off-again blocking of
Wikipedia will be played out over and over as more citizens of the world build upon the generative Internet.
Notes
1. ‘‘Wikipedia:Size comparisons,’’ Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_comparisons (last accessed
December 28, 2006).
2. ‘‘Wikipedia:Overview FAQ,’’ Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Overview_FAQ (last accessed December 28, 2006).
3. ‘‘Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland China,’’ Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_of_Wikipedia_in
_mainland_China (last accessed December 28, 2006).
4. Ibid.
5. See Jack L. Goldsmith and Tim Wu, Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World, (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006) 65–86; Jack L. Goldsmith, Against Cyberanarchy, 65 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1199 (1998); Jack L.
Goldsmith, The Internet and the Abiding Significance of Territorial Sovereignty, 5 Ind. J. Global Legal Stud. 475
(1998); Jack Goldsmith and Timothy Wu, Digital Borders, Legal Affairs, Jan.–Feb. 2006, available at http://www
.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2006/feature_goldsmith_janfeb06.msp; Jonathan Zittrain, Internet Points
of Control, 44 B.C. L. Rev. 653 (2003); Lawrence Lessig, The Zones of Cyberspace, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 1403 (1996).
6. ONI researcher Stephanie Wang deserves particular credit for her work on this taxonomy.
7. Consider the draft Cyber Crime Act, under consideration in the Kingdom of Thailand, on file with authors. Proposed
section 14 would provide that ‘‘service providers’’ face criminal sanctions if they are aware of various offenses and
‘‘do not manage to immediately erase such computer data.’’
8. § 86 of the German Criminal Code. According to § 4(1) JMStV, online content involving the following is prohibited,
irrespective of whether it is otherwise prohibited under criminal law or other law: 1) Propaganda against the democratic constitutional order (§ 86 of the Criminal Code). 2) Use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations (such as
the swastika, § 86a of the Criminal Code) (an ‘‘unconstitutional organization’’ is essentially an organization that is
against or threatens the principles of a free democratic state). 3) Incitement to hatred and violence against segments of the population or defamation of distinct groups. 4) Denial of the Holocaust or other specific acts perpetrated under the Nazi regime. 5) Depictions of cruel or inhuman violence against humans in a way that glamorizes
such acts or makes light of their gravity—this includes virtual representations. 6) Depictions that instigate or incite
the commission of certain crimes (namely, those defined in § 126(1) of the Criminal Code [Disturbance of the
Peace through the Threat of Perpetrating Criminal Acts]). 7) Glorification of war. 8) Violation of human dignity
through the depiction of human death or mortal suffering. 9) Erotic depictions of minors, including virtual depictions. 10) Pornography involving children, animals, or violence, including virtual depictions. 11) Content that has
been blacklisted by the Federal Commission for Media Harmful to Young Persons or is similar in nature thereto.
Translation and research assistance by Daniel Hausermann and James Thurman of the University of St. Gallen,
Switzerland.
9. ‘‘Why Block by IP Address?’’ Internet Censorship Explorer, http://ice.citizenlab.org/index.php?p=78 (last accessed
January 15, 2007).
10. For instance, IP filtering forces the choice of blocking all sites sharing an IP address. A recent ONI bulletin found
over 3,000 Web sites blocked in an attempt to prevent access to only 31 (see http://www.opennetinitiative.net/
bulletins/009/ [last accessed January 15, 2007]). DNS blocking requires an entire domain and all subdomains to
be either wholly blocked or wholly unblocked (http://ice.citizenlab.org/index.php?p=78 [last accessed January 15,
2007]).
54
Jonathan Zittrain and John Palfrey