The net effect: as China's Internet gets a much-needed makeover, will the new network promote freedom or curtail it?

This paper discusses the effect of the US $100 million ChinaNet Next Carrying Network (CN2) project undertaken by China Telecom Corp. on the government's effort to censor its Internet. The project involves the installation of network routers in 200 cities throughout China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. While there have been technological constraints on the amount of censorship possible at the router level, these are expected to be eliminate making censorship more a matter of politics than of technology.