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China Continues to Shut Down Video Sites

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the governments-the-same-the-world-over dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "It's not just YouTube that's blocked in China. After the unrest in Tibet, at least 25 video sharing sites have been shut down and others have been penalized. While the Chinese government is not admitting that violence in Tibet had anything to do with it, they do have a sudden interest in strictly enforcing licensing restrictions that require video sharing websites to register with the government. Among other things, Chinese video sharing sites must promise not to show videos that inspire fear, contain pornography, or endanger national security."

4 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. It should also be noted... by rindeee · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I posted the following info on a previous thread a few days ago, but it was long enough after the story had been posted that it got buried. Anyway, because I believe that it's significant, I will again point out that Google would seem to be coalescing to the wishes of governments such as China. Google's automated the process of blocking particular videos in particular countries via new country blocking XML tags ([media :restriction type="country" relationship="deny">CN]") that they've added in YouTube/Google Video. If you're not familiar with Google's latest (Do no evil???) addition to YouTube, see the write-up that YouTomb did on the matter. Anyway, I can think of no other reason that Google would add in such capability, but I've admittedly not devoted much time to pondering it.

    1. Re:It should also be noted... by hayagriva · · Score: 5, Interesting

      True, but not new. I've been in China since 2004. Every time I've clicked on a Google Video link, it hasn't been blocked by China, but it's never worked. They're very nice about it, though: "Thanks for your interest in Google Video. Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn't available in your country. We hope to make this feature available more widely in the future, and we really appreciate your patience." Do no evil, or, if you have to, be polite about it?

  2. Re:long live Tor by gzipped_tar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In Beijing, many of the TOR nodes are operated by the govn't.

    --
    Colorless green Cthulhu waits dreaming furiously.
  3. Proof that rule by a few elite results in stupidty by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    China is fighting unarmed(or lightly armed) monks in clear view of the world. While they can censor their own media, everyone else sees China as a bully. The Dali-Lama is actually being given an amplified voice. I sincerely do not believe that China wants the person they're trying to repress be given a bigger soap box, but that is what is happening in reality.

    --
    God spoke to me.