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Two days after Danwei reported the unblocking of Blogspot, it looks like the Net Nanny has struck again. Nobody we've asked seems to be able to access CNN.com right now. One guy at the office on China Netcom was able to for a while, and then started getting the connection reset. The latest block could be a result of the recent Jack Cafferty saga and perceived biased reporting on the part of CNN. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure: the guys from anti-cnn.com are lovin' it.
BBC, Wikipedia and Blogspot continue to be unblocked for now.
UPDATE: Reader Angus tells us CNN.com is inaccessible in Hong Kong too and points us to a Computerworld report on plans by Chinese hacker groups to organise DDOS attack on CNN on April 19. This could be it. From Computerworld:
Chinese hackers appear to be readying for an attack on the West scheduled for April 19. It appears the basis of the attack is based on the recent, and very public, pro Tibet coverage in Western media organizations...While there is no apparent link between Anti-CNN and the hackers calling for the Denial of Service attack, the team at The Dark Visitor, who have been tracking Chinese hacking activity for some time, believe that it may be members of the Red Hacker Alliance that are pushing for the online attack to accompany the physical demonstrations.
According to Scott Henderson, administrator for The Dark Visitor, members of The Red Alliance have traditionally required very little in terms of direct motivation to launch politically motivated attacks against external sites. The Dark Visitor researchers have associated politically motivated attacks from this group against sites in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
UPDATE 2: This story, Chinese hackers: No site is safe, from just one week ago from CNN itself:
They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world's most sensitive sites, including the Pentagon.In fact, they say they are sometimes paid secretly by the Chinese government -- a claim the Beijing government denies.
"No Web site is one hundred percent safe. There are Web sites with high-level security, but there is always a weakness," says Xiao Chen, the leader of this group... [Get your VPN and read more]
UPDATE 3, 14:28 Shanghai Time: CNN.com appears to be up again. Sorry big blunder everyone, we forgot our VPN was on and yes, CNN continues to be blocked! Forgive us please, we're human!
UPDATE 3, 15:17 Shanghai Time: Pockets of people around Shanghai say they are able to access the website. CNN.com appears unblocked in Xiamen too.
UPDATE 4, 15:43 Shanghai Time: CNN.com appears to be unblocked in Kunshan, which is not far from Shanghai. Owners of satellite dishes around town are saying that CNN the channel is BLOCKED!
UPDATE 5: 00:19 Shanghai TimeL CNN.com appears to be finally up, BUT no news from CNN itself on what actually happened. Strange.
UPDATE 6: CNN report on its site outtage in China
Related links
Xinhua: China urges again that CNN sincerely apologizes over insulting words
Shanghaiist: Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Jack Cafferty's China remarks and CNN's apology
Shanghaiist: Oops of the Day 2: Jack Cafferty, CNN commentator
Shanghaiist: Tibet Update: Press freedom, Nancy Pelosi and an ensuing PR battle
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