Unsurprisingly, Internet use grew further in 2002, but nowhere more than in China. In April the number of people in China with access to the internet increased to 56.6 million, placing the country behind only the US in terms of internet use. And with a total population of over one billion, China could have an online population of around 257 million by 2005. The Chinese government also increased efforts to control use of the internet in 2002. In September, the government prevented surfers behind the country's "Great Firewall" from accessing the search engine Google, which caches many restricted sites. But a reversed version of Google called elgooG, was found to provide a neat, if eye-boggling, way around this block.

Even more far-reaching are plans for a new operating system that could fundamentally alter the way computers are used anywhere in the world. In June, the world's largest software company, Microsoft, announced plans for a new version of Windows code-named Palladium.

While Microsoft claims this will put security first by controlling what software can be run on a computer, critics allege it could be used to control computer usage. Many point out that the system would provide ideal support for a far more pervasive form of copy prevention

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!