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How World of Warcraft Operates In China

Posted by Zonk on from the our-gaming-brethren dept.

Danny writes "Gaming Steve has taken a detailed look at a little known aspect of the online gaming world -- how World of Warcraft and MMORPGs in general function in Communist China. Topics covered include the WOW China financial arrangement, censorship of WOW and other MMORPGs in general, different methods of payment for Chinese customers, and even how SARS affected online play." From the article: "Although private sector Internet service providers currently exist in China, almost all access to the Internet is maintained through stateowned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of China's Ministry of Information Industry. In addition, the national networks in China connect to the Internet through government controlled international gateways. These government controlled international gateways are the only channel through which a domestic Chinese user can connect to the international Internet network."

3 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Satellite Internet? by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can't you use StarBand or some other high speed satellite internet provider in China? Do they have a dome over China I'm not aware of or what?

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    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Satellite Internet? by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Informative

      No. Every two-way high speed internet provided by satellite is done with LEO constelations. As such, most of them have 80% earth coverage (getting internet in the Arctic must be a bitch).

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
  2. The summary is incorrect by the_unknown_soldier · · Score: 3, Informative

    The internet can be accessed without going through China's censors. First off, you can use a satellite phone. Second off you can use an encrypted phone line, and lastly you can use ssh and a European provider to ensure your communications are not monitored by the government.