As you could probably tell from the majority of my posts, I’m a fan of an open and free Internet. Not just because it theoretically puts me on equal footing with larger businesses and publications, but because it brings a wealth of information to people who may not have found it otherwise.

That’s why I’m thrilled to see that China’s experiment in Internet censorship is starting to show some cracks. A lack of funding could eventually shut down it’s Green Dam program. The country had tried to require PC makers to install filtering software on any computer sold in China.

What did this software filter? Why pornography of course. Dirty filthy terrible pornography. A scourge on society. Oh and any references to democracy and other things the Chinese government was offended by. But by golly, they knocked out all that pornography.

A rule of thumb I always go by: If someone is making a stink about blocking pornography or going after child predators, take a closer look at what they’re proposing. Nobody would ever dare risk being labeled as a defender of child molesters, so it’s the perfect cover to sneak in something controversial without it being debated.