China Blocks More Internet Services

Dave writes "China continues to block more and more popular services. This week they blocked iTunes and YouTube, and now it's TringMe, a popular VoIP 2.0 service. From TringMe's Blog: 'We received close to hundred complaints from our China users that TringMe services is not accessible from yesterday. We have found after our investigation that TringMe is blocked by Chinese government. Earlier China blocked Skype and now they are turning their eye to TringMe. TringMe is extremely popular in China and we have a large number of paying customers in China including a Chinese social network with 3 million users using TringMe's API & services.'"

Comments

China's not the only one

[megamerican]

The UK is doing its best to censor the internet any way they can. Londonâ(TM)s St. Pancras International has been censoring alternative news websites through their wi-fi for at least a month. While I see plenty of news articles about Chinese censorship, I didn't see the UK censorship anywhere else.

Re:China's not the only one

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

There's a very big difference between blocking certain sites on a single public wi-fi service and blocking all internet access to a site or service from within an entire country.

And just for the record that site you linked to is complete bullshit. It doesn't even verify that the sites were blocked intentionally, didn't ask them for comment to explain or investigate, and doesn't even provide confirmation of who is responsible for running the St. Pancras International wifi network. It's entirely possible its privately managed and the government doesn't even determine what gets blocked and what doesn't.

But who cares about facts when you've got conspiracy theories and vitriol?

Re:Not really blocked

[RiotingPacifist]

We already know chinas blocks are easy to get around, its about control more than anything. if something is 'blocked' people don't talk about it.

Re:Block China?

[sakdoctor]

Precisely why we shouldn't.
Cultural imperialism is our most effective weapon, and for it to work we need all channels as open as possible.

Let a country completely wall itself off and you end up with North Korea, where the general population's world view in no way resembles the actual physical reality.

Re:So how much longer...

[eln]

The Chinese government now is arguably less oppressive than it was under Mao, and the Chinese people are experiencing greater economic growth than they have for decades. Why on Earth would they want to start a revolution now? Compared to the way it was, China is a utopia these days.

Re:Block China?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps the western world should block China from the internet.

Here's a better plan: on all pages with scientific and technical information-- which is to say, the stuff that the Chinese leaders want their people to be able to access-- embed somewhere in the page some of the keywords that trigger the firewall filters-- stuff like "free Tibet" and "Say Yes to Falun Gong" and the names of the Tiananmen Square June 4th protesters (in Chinese).

Make their own firewall block the internet.

Nothing but spam

[LargeWu]

notice the related stories...
  Firehose:China Blocks More Internet Services by tringme (1352127)

looking at tringme's profile, he joined....TODAY! What a coincidence. Who cares if it's banned in China, he just wants to spam his service to slashdot.

World View

[Anonymous Coward]

Let a country completely wall itself off and you end up with North Korea, where the general population's world view in no way resembles the actual physical reality.

And this is different from religious America how?