China Realizes It Doesn't Need To Block All Of iTunes
from the just-the-stuff-it-doesn't-like dept
Following last week's news that China was blocking access to the iTunes store in response to a Tibet protest album that some Olympic athletes had apparently downloaded, it appears that China's Great Firewall experts have figured out ways to block on a per album basis. Yes, iTunes is now available again in China -- but that particular album remains off limits. Of course, you would think that if China had simply ignored the issue altogether, it would have received a lot less press. But that doesn't exactly seem to be how they think about things in the Chinese government these days.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: china, filters, great firewall, itunes, tibet
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
but surely it didn't receive a lot of press.
China is fairly open about the fact it censors the internet. At least to us, but i'm fairly sure that the chinese don't learn about many of these things.
after all, this is a country that has erased the tianamen square massacre from the internet internally. Sure now people will remember it, but in 15 years???
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: but surely it didn't receive a lot of press.
On the Tianamen Square, you don't need 15 years. The sentiment in China at this moment has already turned negative on the whole episode. The people now see the escaped protestors as traitors and opportunists because they advocate severe saction on China at every opportunity, without regard for the life of ordinary Chinese, and one of the escaped student leader later admitted to deliberatly escalating the standoff in the hope of bloodshed, so she can profit from the outrage it will cause.
Why did people's sentiment turn so quickly? You can thank the internet for that. If these news only came from Chinese government sources, nobody would have believed them. Yes, it may come as a surprise to you, but Chinese people generally take Chinese government propaganda with a huge grain of salt. Without the internet sources, Chinese people would probably think anything negative about them were disinformation by the government.
Don't believe for an instant that Chinese people are isolated and ill informed. For all the hype and scare played up by the western media, the Great Firewall is more of an annoyance rather than real barrier. Anyone who really wants to bypass it can get around it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
well maybe ...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You can't stop the people
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yeah... free tibet..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yeah, with the way 'history' is taught in schools now, I doubt it. Although; I've told my kids about it, they wondered what I had against China during the Olympics.
To clarify that; I don't have one thing against the people of China, just governments that slaughter protesters. If that kind of action is tolerated, governments all over will think they can get away with it - history has proven that - give Government too much power and they *will* abuse it. It's just the nature of those who seek political office.
Be nice to see China loosen the reigns, I bet their tourism industry would just explode with tourists.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
-This message was brought to you by the Ministry of Truth and The Ministry of Love.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Doubt it
But that assertion is based on the idea that there are "millions" in China looking to get that music. I don't have any clue on the numbers but I doubt that's really the case, and even if it is now people will stop bothering to try very soon.
I agree that if enough people care enough to facilitate change then it will happen, but the Chinese getting this album distributed beyond a few Tibetan sympathizers?
Don't think so.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How much . . .
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Post a comment again and... make a typo on the third word if... while you are explaining to us how protesters that risked their life where manipulators and how the great propaganda in china is sort of a harmless old tradition... you are actually typing a message someone is holding in front of you with a gun in your head...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Not only are you ignorant of the world, you are even ignorant of the language. Try to learn how to write in English first, OK?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Apple
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Try Freedur, you never seen anything like it
You can use it even at school. I always watch Yutube at school as my internet at home is so slow. It supports SSL too so I can read my gmail.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]