are Blogspot blogs back online?

The Marmot reports it here. Others have emailed me about their ability to see my blog with no problem.

Let's not be too hasty. I've had reports from several people that they are now able to access my blog unimpeded, but in at least one case, this person was at the office and noted that the block might still be effective on his home computer.

I'm at a PC-bahng across the street from where I now work, and I, too, am able to see my blog without using a proxy. But TypePad/Blogs.com blogs are still blocked, and it's possible that not all Korean ISPs have liberated Blogspot blogs.

So that means the banner stays up. The agitation continues. We're not done, folks.

I also got an email from Mark Russell about the Newsweek article, to wit:

Hi Kevin,

Well, the new issue of NEWSWEEK has a little blurb on the Web log censorship issue. Unfortunately, I lost the space war, and my one-page (and doubtlessly brilliant) story got turned into a one-paragraph periscope. The tone and content changed somewhat, too.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5506142/site/newsweek/

Not what I intended, but I hope it is better than nothing.

-Mark

UPDATE: MuNu blogs are still blocked.

UPDATE 2: Choicest chunks of the Newsweek blurb:

INTERNET: A Blog Blanket

South Korea may be one of the most wired societies in the world, but some Koreans are beginning to wonder if Seoul is truly ready to embrace that status. ...since late June, about 50 Web sites have been shut down for allegedly trying to post the video of the execution of South Korean hostage Kim Sun Il. Authorities have also blocked large Weblog services, cutting off thousands of blogs that did not offer the video. Officials claim the blanket ban is merely a technical matter... Bloggers, though, worry that average Koreans are coming to accept infringements on the free flow of information as normal. Kevin Kim complains on his site, Big Hominoid [sic], that Korea "has not come far out of the shadow of its military dictatorship past." While that may be extreme, Robert Koehler, whose blog, the Marmot's Hole, is one of the most popular English-language sites about Korea, says, "there seems to be this idea among Korean Netizens that the Net [is] a forum for expressing the power of nationalism." Trying to help the country's reputation, though, may only end up hurting it.

UPDATE 3: With my quote now leaping from this blog to Newsweek (juxtaposed with the word "extreme" for that additional frothing-madness kick), I guess I should toast myself for having very publicly insulted the South Korean government. Heh.

UPDATE 4: If you're in Korea and UNABLE to access my blog, whether at home or at work, I want to hear from you. Please write in at bighominid@gmail.com.

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