蘋果中國應用商店下架VPN
Apple has removed from its Chinese app store apps that enable users to bypass China’s “Great Firewall”, in a move that makers have condemned as “censorship”.
蘋果從其中國應用商店撤下了讓用戶能夠繞過中國“防火長城”的應用。應用開發商譴責蘋果此舉屬於“審查”。The Silicon Valley company has withdrawn “virtual private network” apps from the store, as it pulls all apps that do not comply with local law, even if the makers are based outside the country.
這家硅谷企業從中國應用商店下架了虛擬專用網絡(VPN)應用。蘋果正把所有不符合中國法律的應用撤出該商店，即便應用開發商處於中國境外。Virtual private networks allow users to access content banned by Chinese censors to control access to information online. This has, in effect, created a “Chinese internet”, without many western social media or search engine sites.
VPN能讓用戶訪問中國審查機構限制他們訪問的網絡內容。這種限制實際上打造了一個“中國互聯網”，網絡內的西方社交媒體或引擎數量不多。
ExpressVPN posted a letter it had received from Apple online, notifying the company that its app had been removed from the Chinese app store “because it includes content that is illegal in China”.
ExpressVPN把收到的蘋果來信上傳到了網上。該信通知ExpressVPN，其應用已從蘋果中國應用商店下架，“因爲它包含在中國不合法的內容”。The company, which describes itself as a “digital rights advocate”, said it was “dismayed” that Apple had decided to “side with censorship”.
蘋果表示：“中國工信部今年初宣佈，所有提供VPN的開發商必須從中國政府取得牌照。我們被要求從中國應用商店裏撤掉一些不符合新規的VPN應用。在開發商開展業務的所有其他市場，這些應用仍可下載。”
“It represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date, and we are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts,” ExpressVPN wrote in a blog post.
瑞士VPN開發商Golden Frog表示，在上週五得到了蘋果的通知，其VyprVPN應用也因爲法律原因被下架。該公司就此事發表了推文，並加上“#審查”標籤。該公司表示，如果用戶向蘋果提供一箇中國之外的賬單地址，他們仍可下載VyprVPN。Apple said: “Earlier this year China’s ministry of industry and information technology announced that all developers offering VPNs must obtain a licence from the government. We have been required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations. These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business.”
在北京方面收緊網絡安全規定之後，iPhone和iPad中國用戶的個人在線信息（包括私人通信和照片）如今被存儲在中國境內。這反映出了外國跨國企業要進入世界最大移動通信市場而做出的妥協。Meanwhile, on Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning proxies and VPNs that allow users to bypass restrictions on banned sites.
蘋果一直以隱私保護捍衛者而自居，去年在美國與聯邦調查局(FBI)發生爭執，拒絕了FBI提出的破解聖貝納迪諾(San Bernardino)槍擊案殺手之一的一部iPhone手機的要求。蘋果還表示，去年其拒絕了中國政府讓其交出操作系統源代碼的要求。如果有了源代碼，就能更輕而易舉地找到iOS的安全漏洞。Golden Frog, a Switzerland-based VPN maker, said it was told by Apple on Friday that its VyprVPN app had also been removed for legal reasons, in a post it distributed in a tweet marked “#censorship”. It said if users had given Apple a billing address outside China, they were still able to download the app.
泄露大規模監視行動的美國國家安全局(NSA)前合同工愛德華?斯諾登(Edward Snowden)表示，近些年來蘋果在隱私保護方面做得“非常好”。但他把配合中國政府的審查，比作“公司與種族隔離政權之間的勾結”。
