While Mr. Know-It-All (or mild mannered Brendan I. Koerner) would already be in shackles in a Chinese prison by describing the methods of circumventing the Chinese authorities who watch all Internet traffic in China, those in ‘free’ countries should take note of the freedom that being able to say, listen to, download, post online as we wish – talking about anything – is a blessing.

According to the Wired Article, Mr. Know-It-All explains, “There are, of course, steps your friend can take to dodge Big Brother. For starters, he should email only from cyber-cafes, preferably ones without cameras. It’s also imperative that he steer clear of Chinese email services, as well as foreign-branded services like Yahoo.com.cn. MacKinnon says that email services inside China are obligated to hand over user data and communications to Chinese cops whenever they ask for it.”

While the Patriot Act and other security measures put in place since 9-11 are able to monitor specific communications with international or ‘watch-list’ named individuals, you can pretty much do anything you want in the good ‘ol U.S.A. due to the 1st Amendment.There’s no one watching – in fact – take a look at Craigslist someday and see how people really express themselves when they feel ‘private.’ (See related series: Only on Craigslist).

Source: Wired News: “Mr. Know-It-All: Emailing China, Ordering Absinthe, Informing Your Kids”