Bluetooth Breaches Firewall

By Radio Free Asia
01 October 2009

Cell phone technology provides a new method for exchanging information in Internet-censored China.

As Beijing redoubles its efforts to censor Internet content during sensitive National Day celebrations, netizens are turning to an existing form of mobile technology to exchange information, according to residents in southern China.

Many netizens are now making use of Bluetooth, an open wireless protocol for exchanging data, to create personal area networks with a range of up to 10 meters on their mobile devices and share information.

Xingzai, a netizen in China's southern Guangdong province, said the technology helps him to spread news from media organizations that are otherwise censored in China.

"I just want to spread the news to others...so they won't feel they have been left out. We download the news every day and transmit it to others," Xingzai said.

Most modern cell phones are equipped with Bluetooth technology, and when two or more cell phone users have the feature enabled, it is easy to share data such as downloaded audio or text files between devices.

Once a user offers to share files from his or her device, other devices in the area will receive a transmission request that they can either approve or reject.

If approved, the file will transmit to the device in a format that allows it to be read or listened to.

Xingzai said he offers to share files at bus stops and subway stations, where commuters are crowded together in an area serviceable by a Bluetooth network and are often looking for information to read as they wait.

"There are streams of people at bus stops or subway stations. Some of them are curious and want to receive real information... A good mobile phone can transmit data over a distance of 50 meters," he said.

Bluetooth is also an ideal method of sharing sensitive material anonymously, as no information about the sender is transmitted beyond what has been specified as a name for the device of origin.

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