China Starts Shutting Down Video Hosting Sites
from the so-much-for-leniency dept
Back in January, China put in place rules that effectively banned any video hosting/sharing website that wasn't owned or controlled by the Chinese government. However, after the law went into practice, China didn't do anything -- and many assumed that the government had been convinced that shutting down such sites would harm the entrepreneurial environment it's been trying to foster in China. Then, of course, things went nuts in Tibet. China banned YouTube, and suddenly remembered the laws it had put in place. It's now announced that 25 video hosting sites need to be shut down and another 32 will be "punished." No description of the "punishment" is provided. In the meantime, this should be a reminder to those investors rushing to invest in Chinese startups: the government can change the landscape drastically with little warning.
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Filed Under: china, great firewall, video hosting
Reader Comments
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Come on, you know it's only a matter of time.
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Not quite
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Re:
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what's happening in China is of grave sorrow
I wonder what the 'leaders' of china are actually thinkiing.
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Nuke'em?
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Stupid Chinese
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stupid americans
china on the other hand....well
.."mac" ur probably shiting ur self as we speak cause u know everything about them is better
and one day in the future they shall take over
those people are most efficient and productive population in the world....its just a matter of time
so enjoy it while u can
capitalism, will always remain a dream, in relativity its a failure!!
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get ur facts staight
"China will shut down or punish dozens of video-sharing Web sites for carrying content deemed pornographic, violent or a threat to national security under rules that tighten Internet controls, a regulator said Friday"
whats wrong with that.....they are taking action to improve the country....not hurt business. the only business they "might" hurt is the porno business....
im sure this does not mean the demise of all future investments
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Re: get ur facts staight
China uses an extremely liberal interpretation of what constitutes "a threat to national security." For instance, criticizing the government and calling for reform is characterized as an "incitement to subvert state power."
they are taking action to improve the country
Improving the country by censoring anything the government deems threatening, not just pornography. Please explain how keeping their citizens ignorant of world events, such as the situation in Tibet, is "improving" the country.
the only business they "might" hurt is the porno business....
The article isn't about just censoring pornographic videos. And you're missing the point. A video hosting site, such as YouTube, is a business. China has effectively killed any homegrown video hosting startups that aren't owned by the government. If a company or individual had invested money into one of those businesses, they basically just lost their investment. Basically, the article is saying that the Chinese government can realistically do the same thing to any number of industries, therefore, future investments need to be considered carefully.
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Um, Woah
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China
While I agree we shouldn't be punishing the athletes, which in an indirect way this would do, it does seem necessary. This is a corrupt government that will stop at nothing to keep its people in line. If we don't stand up and say something is seriously wrong here, who will????
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Re: China
Because they hold billions of our worth in bonds, not to mention the fact they sell us all our cheap stuff.
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why the hell are we or any other democratic country planning on attending the Olympics this summer?
While I agree we shouldn't be punishing the athletes, which in an indirect way this would do, it does seem necessary
That's why I say try to appeal to the athletes themselves. If you appeal to a country to not send their competitors then yes I think they would feel cheated but if the atheletes themselves decided not to participate I think it would be a much stronger show of force.
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What You've Seem To Have Forgotten.......
The west is tightly dependent on China for consumer goods, but never forget it still has a third world government and approach to the rest of the world.
Until the Chinese overthrow the Communist leaders, the country will always be a threat. We do business with them and they happily take our money, but what many don't realize is that the ongoing business expansion is resulting in many existing homes and businesses to be bulldozed and the citizens' rights - what few they have - to be trampled.
Yes, your new flat screen TV will come from China, and some people will be paid well for producing it, but there is still a rotten stink in the government and they must be closely monitored.
And, for you idiots who have posted messages claiming that China is somehow superior to the US - show some real conviction and let's see you move there. You will change your tune in a real hurry, especially if you're in a Chinese jail.
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this is china
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Re: stupid americans
Can't help pointing out -- while you may be correct, some of us are living in "reality", and it's working OK there.
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One step closer...
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A grain of salt....
**ALSO**, you (US citizens) may do the little an exercise of reading many of your own comments from an non-US-citizen perspective.
Let's see: "a free country", "nuke them", etc
Yes, of course. You live in a country where your current president didn't make it's first term with an election that he didn't win (Florida, i think?). Of course, you do not live in a country where the e-voting machines are completely fucked up and the government does all it can to fix it. No, no radiation tests on (unaware) civilians. Health care is superb. No humans rights violations (torture? where? but if it is for the greater good!), etc, etc.
*EVERY* country has good and bad things and all they must be pointed out (i live in Argentina, so i know...).
You then go wondering how is it possible that "americans" are not liked in the rest of the world (you ARE liked, your attitudes are NOT). I've been in USA and i know you are very kind people and you have a beautiful country, so i hope you understand the real (honest) meaning of the next sentence as an observation and not an insult:
some of this (blind) thinking is akin to fanatism, as it is not well funded and one sided and stubborn. You also send your youngs to die being heroes (claiming that you have god and the law in your side).
Hopefully you are now thinking if some of this might be real and not being offended! Realy!
Peace
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hmmm...
just wondering because I see it quite a bit on these posts.
Is it what you learned in your US History class in high school, or have you actually done some of your own reading and picked up the Communist Manifesto??
just curious, go wave your flags now.
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WW 3
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Your Warning Is Spot On
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Youtube back up in China
I speculate this is a lame attempt by the government to fool reporters and interested Westerners to thinking it's unblocked now. None of the content is accessable, though I indeed can see which videos are featured today.
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Youtube back up in China
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China sucks
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shutting down internet sights
http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=foXN27viSOM
think its a joke? Watch this video while its still there
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none
if i were a Chinese person, i'd be glad foreign sites were being blocked, because not only has it created jobs for Chinese video sites, it also creates an indpendence that few countries have. how many countries out there can really say that they dont use youtube? just another example of how the spin doctors are trying to turn something great, into something bad. as far as boycotting the olympics goes, how many of you boycotted the london olympics because british troops are slaughtering thousands of Afgans, and Libyans?
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