The Foreign Service Journal, May 2005

Internet & American Life Project last February, VoIP’s profile is rising rapidly among personal consumers. Pew found that 27 percent of Internet users in the U.S. — or 17 percent of all Americans — have heard of the service and 3 percent have considered adopting VoIP technology in the home ( http://www.pewinternet. org/PPF/r/129/report_display.asp ). Gartner, Inc., a technology research firm states that at the end of 2003 there were 150,000 VoIP subscribers in the U.S., and predicts this would grow to one million by 2004 and to six million by the end of 2005. Some experts predict that consumer use of VoIP could reach 40 percent of the U.S. market by 2009 ( http://www. n e wm i l l e n n i um r e s e a r c h . org/news/voip_nmrc.pdf ). For more information on this promising technology and what it can do for you, see http://computer. howstuffworks.com/ip-telepho ny.htm or http://www.tech-faq. com/voip.shtml . China: A Growing Footprint on the Net China has the world’s second- largest online population after the U.S. More than 94 million individuals use the Internet regularly for busi- ness, education and personal use. And while the government continues efforts to monitor and control China’s cyber traffic — most recently a popu- lar university discussion board/chat room was closed to off-campus partic- ipants and the posting of prayers and blessings on the death of the pope was blocked — authorities are also busy developing and using the Internet to push official policy and increase trans- parency. From a Web-based petition against Japan’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council that by the end of March had more than 16 mil- lion signatures, to a gamut of robust and user-friendly Web sites offering news and information from China, Beijing’s footprint on the Web is expanding. Here is a sampling of online resources from and about China. At the official government portal, www.china.org.cn , t he China Internet Information Center offers broad access to up-to-date news about China, with searchable texts of gov- ernment position papers and a wealth of basic information about Chinese history, politics, economics and cul- ture. ChinaToday.com: A China Infor- mation Base provides links to the top news sites, from Xinhua News to China Tech News , as well as links to international media reports on China ( www.chinatoday.com ). T he site also offers resources on trade and investment, cities and people, culture and art, entertainment, travel and weather in China. China Military Online , sponsored by PLA Daily of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, is an up-to-date win- dow on China’s military ( http://eng lish.chinamil.com.cn/ ). It provides domestic and international military news and PLA commentaries. The site also features an archive of articles on such diverse military-related topics as “army building,” “IT application,” M A Y 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 13 C YBERNOTES By the end of this year you may begin to receive unsolicited sales calls on your cell phone. With the exception of Verizon, the major wireless phone providers have announced their intention to establish a 411 directory of customers’ cell phone numbers beginning in late 2005, according to urbanlegends.about.com . But they are not going to “publish” this directory for public consumption, and say that numbers will be made available only with customer consent, and only via telephone to users who dial directory assistance and pay a fee. FCC regulations already prohibit telemarketers from calling cell phone num- bers using automated dialers, the industry standard today, and providers insist their plan will never give numbers to telemarketers. But a privacy protection bill now in Congress, which would modify the plan to allow 411 callers to be direct- ly connected to requested parties without the latter’s phone numbers being given out, has aroused skepticism. In the event, safe may be better than sorry. To protect your minutes, get your cell phone registered on the national Do Not Call list. It’s free and cell phones are included. Your number will be protected for five years. You can call 1 (888) 382-1222 from your cell phone to register. Or, if you prefer, go to http:// www.donotcall.gov , wh ere you can register up to three numbers. Site of the Month http://www.donotcall.gov/