China Cracks Down on Non-Compliant Internet Bars

phreak404 writes: "According to this article on CNN.com, over 197 bars were closed for apparently violating licensing laws that require bars to censor content."

Comments

doh

[Lord Omlette]

I wonder if this has anything to do with me responding to every spam I get from a .cn domain with: "The weapons you paid for are on their way. I'm more than happy to support the Falun Gong. Free Tibet!"

Well I'm shocked...not

[psicic]

Errr... it is actually the law, you know. The places that were shut down were unlicenced. It's seems like a non-story. CNN - in a typical display of its 'unbiased' reporting - seems to have melded a few facts together.

Look at it this way: In most of the US you can't brew and serve alcoholic drink publicly without some sort of licence. In the Republic of Ireland you have to have a licence to own a TV. In China, you need a licence to run an internet cafe.

In the US you don't need a TV licence if the TV is for private use. In the Republic of Ireland you can brew alcohol if it's for private use(maybe you can in the US as well - I don't know). In Ireland and the US, most internet cafes aren't required by law to restrict access to sites. But a good few places - whether by law or by a policy mandate - do restrict access to porno sites and certains sites with a 'speciality' interest(aren't US libraries required to restrict access to certain sites?). In China, all public internet terminals(including internet cafes) are required to have filtering software. From what I've heard on the 'net, the myth of 'the Yellow Firewall' is just that - a myth. Chinese PC users can access the entire internet from their homes.

8)