North Korea and the Internet
Believe it or not, North Korea has computers. They are mostly reserved for the members of North Korea's three official parties, universities, the military, the country's intelligence agencies and various research institutions.
Of course, North Korean government won't give unrestricted access to Internet to just anybody. Unless you have some pretty high security clearance, you only get access to the DPRK Intranet. For those who don't know, intranet is basically a closed computer network, sort of a mini-Internet, if you will. The only way they can get anywhere near real Internet, they need to apply with North Korea's intellegence services and prove that they are only interested in completely non-subversive research that's important to the welfare of the great and mighty Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
If their application is accepted, a government agent takes the website in question (basically copying all the files wholesale) and sends it to the censors. The censors erase anything they would consider even remotely subversive and upload the now-censored website onto the DPRK Intranet.
I am telling you all of this because I recently found an article that describes Internet access in North Korea from North Korean perspective. Before I showed it to you, I wanted to give you some perspective on what things are really like:
Enjoy
“Netizens” in Pyongyang Have Online Debate in Chatting Room
Of course, North Korean government won't give unrestricted access to Internet to just anybody. Unless you have some pretty high security clearance, you only get access to the DPRK Intranet. For those who don't know, intranet is basically a closed computer network, sort of a mini-Internet, if you will. The only way they can get anywhere near real Internet, they need to apply with North Korea's intellegence services and prove that they are only interested in completely non-subversive research that's important to the welfare of the great and mighty Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
If their application is accepted, a government agent takes the website in question (basically copying all the files wholesale) and sends it to the censors. The censors erase anything they would consider even remotely subversive and upload the now-censored website onto the DPRK Intranet.
I am telling you all of this because I recently found an article that describes Internet access in North Korea from North Korean perspective. Before I showed it to you, I wanted to give you some perspective on what things are really like:
Enjoy
“Netizens” in Pyongyang Have Online Debate in Chatting Room