AOL Moves Into China

fish writes: "BetaNews has just posted an article that details how AOL is about to announce a joint venture with China's largest PC maker. Apparently this sets the stage for AOL China. How do you say 'You've Got Mail' in Mandarin?"

Comments

Other names?

[abischof]

If only America Online changed their name for their international business divisions... Sweden Online has a particularly appropriate acronym, for instance ;).

Alex Bischoff

Collaborating in censorship?

[astrashe]

The article didn't say so, but I have to believe that AOL will help the Chineese government restrict the flow of information to the people. They simply wouldn't be allowed to operate otherwise. It was interesting to note that the local company keeps 52% vs. AOL's 48%.

There's no way to sugar coat this. These guys are selling their enginnering muscle to China in the service of repression. They're doing something immoral because it's profitable.

As bad as that is -- and it's bad enough all by itself -- we have to deal with the fact that AOL is the preemininent member of the oligopoly that will control access to information in the US. In other words, a company that's establishing a track record of selling out civil liberties for money is in the driver's seat.

Murdoch's News Corp has pulled punches in its publishing houses and other media outlets in order to get Chineese deals. Will AOL/Time Warner follow suit? If they do, will it be any worse, or even as bad, as providing the technical infrastructure to censort the net?

Think about that when you watch CNN or read Time Magazine. If you still read or watch them, that is.

We're sorry!

[Baloo Ursidae]

On behalf of the United States, I apologize to the rest of the world for AOL...

--

Great!

[marcsiry]

Now they can email our EP-3 back to us!

"Downloading segment 13 of 64,842 parts...."

8th wonder of the world

[Ukab the Great]

Bored people in China can build a life-size Great Wall made out of AOL disks.

How do you say 'You've got Mail' in Mandarin?

[AMuse]

"Welcome! The government's got your mail!"
------------------------------------------ --------

Actual translation

[mizhi]

Eh, well, if anyone's interested in the actual translations of "You've got mail!", I'll give it a shot... those of you more fluent than I am, post corrections because I actually am interested in a mandarin translation that doesn't involve innuendoes of censorship. =)

1) ni3 you3 xin4 jian4. (this is for traditional postal mail)

2) ni3 you3 dian4 zi3 han2 jian4. (literal translation of email... but I've only heard my girlfriend and her family use "e-mail"...we call it Chinglish)

so... I guess another way to say it would be
3) ni3 you3 e-mail. =)

I have a plan

[empesey]

Let's tell China that AOL is a giant spy machine. Maybe they'll keep it.

--
...and these circular discs are held up to the sun, for flashing Morse code messages to our sattelites.

You have got mail in madrin.

[Ayende Rahien]

I hear they are considerring the following options:

1. You've got mail, which was forwarded to the nearest censors. The email, or the police, would reach you within 24 to 48 hours. Please wait.
2. You've got mail, it was censored.
3. You've got mail, traitor!
4. You've got mail, and 15 years in jail.
5. You've got mail, and will be able to read it for a small bribe.

China's government will like this

[Richthofen80]

I think most people are missing what could be the case. The truth is, AOL is not internet access. It provides some methods of getting to some internet material, but AOL is simply it's own network.

China's government will LOVE this. Why? Because it means that if many chinese use the service, the government knows exactly what people can see, by virtue of what AOL allows its users to do, not by tracking individuals specifically. It has never been about specific people seeing anti-chinese stuff, it has always been about a lot of people having access to that stuff. And China will be able to tailor, through tax / other incentives to AOL, the online experience for the Chinese. I'm sure AOL has been blocking sites on the net for years.

If anyone has ever read "Code and other laws of Cyberspace" you'd know why AOL is perfect for keeping social dissedents out of line: it's chatrooms only allow 22 users, and they have terms of service which are malleable. No one can organize a riot or view anti-chinese sentiment on a completely crafted network.

What might bother me is that a lot of people view "online" or "internet" as being just AOL. Someone should publish a pamphlet and offer it to give a basic overview of what the internet is so that computer purchasers know the difference between an ISP and a closed network with WWW access.

Personally, I think now's the time to dump my stock in "chineseschoolgirls.com"