I dont' quite see the point for the GFW to work in the opposite direction... I guess it's a way for Xiao Qiang to make himself interesting to the "dissident" crowd.

Actually, most normal firewalls installed todate in most sites are the reverse of the GFW - you don't want people outside snooping around where they don't belong, like looking for the latest software being developed inside Microsoft. But in this age of e-commerce, you want them to get to where you want them to go, like buying a book from you. The GFW working inreverse is just the run of the mill firewall working normal.

It is quite normal for corporations to have at least two sets for rules, if not physical firewalls to control locally initiated traffic and externally initiated traffic. Most people don't block request for information initiated internally, and allows only recognized, trusted, incoming request for information.

Though I'm not a fan of censorship, I must admit that I enjoy the cat & mouse game that the government is playing with the public. I suspect that no matter who the GFW employs, they will not be able to keep up with closet computer-nerd innovation. Ultimately, I am convinced it is a losing battle.

In ways, it reminds me of the music industry's attempts to retain control over music distribution by restricting the flow of bytes on the internet.