Cisco drives epic Chinese surveillance network, says report

Cisco and other western companies are reportedly working with the Chinese government to install a network of one half-million surveillance cameras in the rapidly growing commercial and industrial metropolis, Chongqing. Citing people familiar with the deal, The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that Cisco will …

[Destroy All Monsters]

Of course!

"Cisco Supports Freedom of Expression, an Open Internet and Human Rights"

Well, who _wouldn't_ support Freedom of Expression, an Open Internet and Human Rights? It's like Obama who supports closing Gitmo, getting Troooops out of the 'stans, repealing the surveillance state and upping the "economy at home" or Israel that supports a peaceful solution to the Palestinian Question.

The Real World may well thwart those lofty goals. The flesh is weak, verily!

Happy face because we need it.

[Steven Roper]

Law? What law?

The only law I'm aware of is the one that forbids any interference with the ability of multinational corporations to make money.

[scarshapedstar]

Chongqing?

Crikey. That's like naming a town Krautburg or Limeys-upon-Thames.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait...China?

Why are China being made to look like the baddies here? This is the same system that is currently being run in the UK.

ANPR systems are watched in real time.

[Is it me?]

No not really

ANPR only flags watched VRNs, some, but not all hold VRNs for a while, for later analysis as a part of a criminal investigation. Some also might hold the vehicle image, but again not for long as there's a storage issue, not to mention Data Protection and so on.

This kind of system is way beyond the kind of money the government will spend.

[Bumpy Cat]

It's a matter of degree

Although we have our panopticon here, people are *mostly* arrested for legitimate reasons, and our judiciary is independent. We're not perfect, but we're also not seeing people from UK Uncut banged up on trumped-up charges (ref Ai Weiwei etc).

I know, I know - people are on trial for trespass for F&M etc. There's a big difference between that and being disappeared for a month until your show trial. Again, I'm not saying the UK is perfect (and we need to keep fighting for improvement) but basic rights and freedoms are better here.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm also trying to work out why China and Cisco are the baddies here?

Is it because we should have a UK company selling its products and years of experience at spying on the civilian population rather than a US multinational winning the business?

Is it because spying on the civilian population in China is bad, while spying on the UK civilian population is accepted?

[Anonymous Coward]

Which Bush?

"A more far-reaching and punative bill, "The United States-China Act of 1991", was passed by the House and Senate, but vetoed by then-President George W. Bush."

'91 was Bush Sr. - a.k.a. George H. W. Bush. George W. Bush (a.k.a. "Dubya") was the more recent one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush

[Anonymous Coward]

Pity

Chongqing was one chinese city I really liked; it just seemed less doctrinaire than most of the others. First, the telly there starts showing non-stop "Red" agitprop, and now this...<sigh>

[Asgard]

Peaceful, yes right

"Peaceful Chongqing" is Newspeak if ever I've seen it.

How is it really peace if it requires total surveillance and therefore implied forceful repression of decent. That's a very strange, very false peace. You will be peaceful, because we will pummel you until you are.

I can't help being reminded of the 1984 sentence ... "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever".

I'm just waiting for a UK politician to try to use tax payers money to go on a "fact finding mission" to China to learn more about how to create a Peaceful London and Peaceful UK. :(

[Alpha Tony]

@Asgard

'I'm just waiting for a UK politician to try to use tax payers money to go on a "fact finding mission" to China to learn more about how to create a Peaceful London and Peaceful UK'

Sounds more like they are copying the UK model than the other way around Asgard.

'How is it really peace if it requires total surveillance'

Yes well quite. Oh... You were talking about China...?

[Anonymous Coward]

then-President George W. Bush

Surely you mean papa Bush. Junior wouldn't be trying on his dad's shoes for another decade yet.

Also, the link to the bill text returns the following error message: "Search results in THOMAS are temporary and are deleted 30 minutes after creation."

[Big Al]

Open government

So the story here is that a Chinese municipal government is making a planned and properly thought-through investment, rather than just rely on the ad hoc and irregular patchwork of both publicly and privately operated CCTV cameras, speed cameras and cashpoint cameras used by the forces of law and order in every Western city?

Wow. Big news.

[BristolBachelor]

"customized"

Of course it's not "customized in any way to facilitate ... surveillance of users." It's the same version used in good ol' US of A so that facility is already built-in. Anyway this network probably isn't for user data, it's their own data from IP cameras.

"a repressive government with a history and practice of suppressing dissent and monitoring its citizens' behavior can turn even as seemingly innocuous an item as a Cat6 patch panel into a supporting player in Big Brother's telescreen future"

I got a bit lost here. Are you talking about China again here, or are you still talking about US gov? (The one that classes an RS232 cable or a heatpipe as a munition that requires pages of paperwork just to buy)

[John Smith 19]

*Why* Cisco?

Isn't the middle kingdom knee deep in local suppliers for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

"it just seemed less doctrinaire"

hence the need for all those cameras.

pretty sure they're not that worried about traffic problems.

[Anonymous Coward]

Missing an opportunity here, surely?

Cisco should surely be encouraged by the US Gov to modify the stuff so that the NSA or whoever can also access this, and ship it to them.

It would be a start on the road to getting them back for this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/30/huawei_threat/

[mhenriday]

Good to see that the Chinese are finally learning from the «West»

and cities like London and New York ; perhaps in time they, too, will become truly civilised and can come to participate in «our» interminable wars, most, interestingly enough, in their neck of the woods....

Henri

[LesBaer45]

No local bidders?

Cisco? What a Huawei network isn't a case of "close enough for government work" copy?

Maybe it's just a plot to import tons of new current Cisco gear so it's easier to duplicate.

Nah, they probably already have all the information on those they need.

[BristolBachelor]

Re: No local bidders?

"Maybe it's just a plot to import tons of new current Cisco gear so it's easier to duplicate."

What? You mean Cisco gear isn't made in China?

[Anonymous Coward]

You never ...

get sent to prision/reeducation for buying Cisco!