Ahead of today's "Remember June 4th" 20km fun run, netizens have been running their own online marathon to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. A group of young netizens has set up a "BitTorrent Marathon Memorial for June 4th Massacre in China" website.
Sora Chung Shin-yan, 17, hopes youngsters will learn more about the June 4 incidents through BitTorrent.
BitTorrent is a popular file-sharing program that allows users to download content such as movies and music through peer-to-peer networks on the internet.
There are now more than 2,100 members taking part.
Mr Chung said: "Since completing my studies, I am unemployed. I thought I could contribute my time and effort to memorialise the Tiananmen massacre in my own way.
"Many people are not available or could not go to any memorial activities because of their jobs. It is easier to get the information and commemorate June 4 via the internet."
The website managed by Mr Chung offers television news clips and the Chinese-language version of The Tiananmen Papers that were published in April 2001.
Mr Chung said the download rate was high and some users had internet protocol addresses on the mainland. The "marathon" also invites netizens to share their own files. "If you have your own treasure about the Tiananmen massacre and want to share it worldwide, please contact us. A link for a private BitTorrent tracker will be provided after that."
A tracker is a server that assists in the communication between peers.
Distribution of copyrighted materials online is illegal in Hong Kong, but there is no copyright issue in this case. "Only video that cannot be bought on the market would be uploaded. Moreover, the publisher of [The Tiananmen Papers] approved of the downloading," Mr Chung said.
Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organised today's fun run, said the activities of netizens were encouraging.
"I am not sure if these netizens would show up in any activities organised by the alliance, but at least they have initiated an online commemoration," Mr Tsoi said.
Apart from the BitTorrent marathon, some people are marking the event on the social networking site Facebook, by changing their profile picture to the 20th anniversary logo or iconic pictures from the crackdown.
The fun run will start at 8.45am from the Legco Building in Central.
(SCMP report, 26 April 2009)
