China plans to control all video sites
Enjoy your streaming videos while you can, Chinese YouTube fans. The Chinese government announced new rules Thursday that could block all but a few video sites from reaching Chinese viewers. The regulations, posted to Web sites of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Information Industry, require that effective Jan. 31, all online video outlets avoid politically or morally objectionable content and obtain a government-issued permit. While the statute could limit online video to state-controlled media sites and ban foreign-owned video-hosting sites like YouTube and MySpace, it may also go unenforced, serving more as a threat to coerce video-hosting sites to police themselves.
Because the government lacks the technology to filter video as selectively as it filters text, Edelman says, it may hope to scare sites into censoring the content that the government wants banned. That digital contraband would include politically sensitive messages about racial minorities and human rights as well as sexual images. If foreign video sites are forced to cooperate with a repressive regime rather than lose their Chinese audience, they could face the same public relations disasters as other tech companies that have ventured into China. Google, for instance, was pilloried by human rights groups for censoring search results on its Chinese site in January 2006. The Chinese economy miracle discloses its darker side once again…
Source: Forbes, AP
Comments(63)
That is sick!
You can’t stop the Chinese…
As if most of these Chinese will be positively affected by it. Bah they should concentrate on the more pressing issues like on how to control their blooming population.
It’s a communist country after all…
I live in china, they have been blocking youtube and wiki on and off for the last 2-3 years. at the moment youtube is open but wiki is not, but you can still use wiki through proxies and also you can use answers.com which has most of wiki content.
So this is not really news to me, since it switches on and off all the time.
China is a one party capitalist based society, I don’t think you can call it communist in the traditional sense. Theres freedom in many facets of life but the party is scared of losing power and control, so anything that encroaches on that such as groups of unhappy people getting together and having discussions is crushed swiftly
long livethe king
Like scoopex says: China is not a communist state. It is a totalitarian capitalist state. A true communist nation wouldn’t have censorship, wouldn’t have a stock exchange, people wouldn’t be hungry. It wouldn’t allow its people to be exploited for profit by capitalist ventures (Walmart, Nike etc).
I’m gonna be the next emperor of China!
Mum, if you’re reading this… I luv j00 <3 *waves hand*
Where is Mr. Bush to defend the “Liberty of the World” ?
Is that true anymore ? I´m wondering , can we describe China as some authoritative hybrid. They after all sacrificed some parts of former ideology and replaced them with finer parts of our economical systems.
It´s unfortunate that Chinese government have chosen affirmation of their power through control of information. They could use someone like Gorbachev, someone trying to gain the trust of the people, not just hiding behind the smoke screen and punishing anyone who dares to venture through it.
speaking of China… I’d like to thank everyone who protested about a poster’s email address being publicized as punishment. Thankfully the internet is still largely a Democracy.
The post has been deleted, and it seems like further “ban” posts have ***’s in place of complete IPs and emails.
Thanks to all protesters and to Martin or whomever intervened. I trust it won’t happen again.
omg poor china =\
Smatanza
[sarcasm]Sleeping off the amazing adventure into Iraq , and planning new ones.[sarcasm]
I wish he never awakens.
Realistically its the only way you gonna get sites like dailymotion to police themselves.
That was cool. A rally on rlslog!
It all happened here: http://www.rlslog.net/mutools-mulab-unlimited-v10-air/
Makes a very interesting read, all sorts of opinions and arguments, I hope it doesn’t all get deleted. It was refreshing and very cool to see how it developed.
So Mr.X, this IS a democracy after all. You rely on us, we rely on you – that’s how the world turns. Without the public, this site wouldn’t exist. This is a lesson for governments too.
Here’s an idea, put all governments on the net!! Might slim down the politician population too… time for some layoffs.
@5
Are porn sites also blocked? How sad life must be there if it is.
7@ Sime
Are you really serious ??? you don’t know much about communist country’s do you ? ”wouldn’t have censorship”???? burning books how does that sound, burning churches, killing and jailing believer’s,destroying certain types of music imposing certain others,shutting down news networks, newspapers ???”It wouldn’t allow its people to be exploited for profit by capitalist ventures”yes only for they would be exploited by other none capitalistic masters ”wouldn’t have a stock exchange” yes yes try nowadays to cut a country from the world stock market and see what happens. and the best of all ”people wouldn’t be hungry”?????????? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA where are you getting these ??? you would only have to look an officer the wrong way to guaranty yourself a bullet in the head. put it in your brain communists aaaaall over the world played ….and lost. my personal opinion they deserved worse.
shiiit my grandfathers bones are probably screaming from the grave….communists……:/…god help us .
Oddly enough, china is a hotbed of bad internet activity. You can host all sorts of poop there un-interupted. viagra, porn, you name it. They are second only the RBN(see wikipedia).
J.
@15 extradry
I just read it …… HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH LOL that is why rlslog is so f.cking great!!!!
There is a FIrefox add-on I’m using that acts like a proxy and anonymizer. It was developed by an Iranian developer. I’m in Philippines and I use it to bypass my office’s security restriction and it works.
@16
Dont think so, but it is all censored so it might as well be blocked.
This post actually makes you think. Seriously i thought about it, blocked off from youtube & other sites…i dont use alot of those sites but it is a good tool to spread word or to post whatever you want pretty much. You would think it wouldnt be such a big deal since youtube already blocks alot of content that is “sexual” so i think in the summary of this post the most important line was..”The Chinese economy miracle discloses its darker side once again…”
…and #5 from China said “Theres freedom in many facets of life but the party is scared of losing power and control, so anything that encroaches on that such as groups of unhappy people getting together and having discussions is crushed swiftly”
sir G@wain
Please understand that Sime was pointing towards ideal communistic state. That idea was never fully realized , most likely never will be (as any other Utopia).
To adress one finer points of you statement, believers themself were not prosecuted. Clergy was the target due to their connection with Vatican and political affiliation. Those clergymen , who openly supported still living guerilla groups , were often arrested and sentenced for equivalent of “treason” (rougly translated as actins aimed against the state). Belief itself wasn´t the problem , political activity sometimes attached to it was.
How many of you have been to China?
How many make their judgements based on CNN?
You are all ignorant.
Continuing the “China is a communist state” argument. Communism is a lie, is an idealistic fantasy that can never happen, communist parties claim that they are one until the time that power has to be handed back and woops… it slips into Capitalism or Fascism or otherwise.
Good thing that i don’t live in China, but what to say it’s amazing that you still have internet
Touche sir Kybic touche .:)
The article is anti-chinese propaganda using an us and them mentality.
Both the UK and US government are doing the same. heh, and neither government can make any real claims to democracy.
Same supposed capitalists are crying for and succeeding in some areas in setting up a centralized source of influence through internet regulation.
@24 @25 you do realize that the discussion isn’t about china specifically right??
hohoho china’s goin down
we r all lucky not to live in China….
Personally, I’m sick to the core with all the lies and the deceptions… a shame really when it was and is completely unnecessary. In fact, so many lies that I’m both surprised and astounded how at least one sock ends up on each foot.
…and it’s little wonder why mimic is all that’s left…
The Chinese government makes me sick. Not because of stuff like censoring the internet (don’t get me wrong, that stuff really bugs me too), but for the systematic abuse and torture it carries out against its own people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong
The US government makes me sick. Not because of stuff like censoring the internet (don’t get me wrong, that stuff really bugs me too), but for the systematic abuse and torture it carries out against other people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp
People makes me sick.
Sime:
‘A true communist nation wouldn’t have censorship’
Are you mad? censorship is the very first thing ANY communist nation has. Try going on holiday in North Korea or Russia during the communist era you would have minders for your entire stay to ensure that you don’t see/photgraph anything that makes them look bad and you are kept away form the common people becuase the authorities don’t want the people to see how good a westerner has it ie: wealth etc.
China has become more open but it wasn’t long ago where you would have minders as a tourist there too.
So in truth China is a communist state its just a communist state that has embraced capitalism. But the people are not free and are still hurded and controlled like sheep.
2 Sam
Communist state by definiton cannnot embrace capitalism and remain communist (lame sentence). Problem with China is , tha we don´t have proper category – China has adopted it´s own version of free market. It doesn´t fall into neither capitalist nor communist system.
Moreover , please note phrase “true communist” in Sime´s post. It probably referred to ideal communist society , therefore it should not be compared with former Soviet Union and etc.
Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour.
- “China will grow large”
- “Nothing can stop us”
Mmmm… public hearing on how the exploitation of the US flag got us here would be the place to start.
Not likely eh?, so it’s back to consequence of action, predetermined endings and the eventual self-correction. One of the many benefits is the swinging blindly parts, it does tragically have a humorous aspect in this Comedy.
hmm maybe North Korea is alot worse than China, but i dont know.
that’s just what i heard.
just one question, are this policy gonna affect HongKong?, since HK is part of China right now
Invade China and force democracy ! ….. kekek
China is a strong country. If china going to be reform and declare as Democracy ,they would not survive and be as strong as today.
There are still a lot of things they need to improve on. They need a greater leader to make the country better.
Bush do not dare to interfere China because if china going to kick US ass, the US will die.
China is a joke of a country and people. 80% of it’s 1.5 Billion people live like gypo’s in poverty. The only reason the country is not a Japanese state now is because the Allies defeated Japan(after Japan had conquered most of China during ww2). The ungrateful Chinese owe their existence to what the allies did for them in ww2.
free speech is so over-rated, its an illusion, so get over it. There is no such thing as complete free speech in any country, and to have law and order, freedom of expression needs to be curtailed. Its not a happy clappy world out there and the rest of the free speech hippies need to realise this @kos no country on earth has the military might to make China do anything, the US can’t even control tinpot nations like Iraq and Afghanistan!
It isn’t. I mean, everyone should have the right to say whatever they want to say, without breaking a dozen laws, and risk the ruin of their entire life. No offense to anyone, but I seriously think that China is becoming more like a dictatorship than anything else. I don’t mean to offend anyone, but, I mean, like at the International section of the paper.
It’s becoming more and more sick. Still, they won’t mange to control small videos because, afterall, it’s VERY easy to distribute files nowadays.
When people say “What’s the problem if you have nothing to hide?” when the issue of privacy comes up. Point them to this and say “This is where forced insurance check points leads to.”
Poor China, then again they’re probably used to this because they don’t have as much freedom as we do.
congrats, the us is no longer the most censored place on earth
Thankfully, 37, has brains.
I did say “true communist” and there has NEVER been a true communist state as envisioned by Marx.
USSR was a STATE CAPITALIST country
China was a TOTALITARIAN DICTATORSHIP and is now a TOTALITARIAN STATE CAPITALIST country
North Korea is still a TOTALITARIAN DICTATORSHIP
Some people need to stop listening to the Capitalist West’s idea of Communism and Socialism and read more.
The wonderful “land of the free” the “greatest democracy of all time” still doesn’t have free, universal healthcare. Cuba (again not communist, more a dictatorship), the “great evil”, has free healthcare.
When Americans can give free healthcare to their people then the Americans can start to argue against people who believe in true communism. Until then, your arguments will never be truly justified as you are still very far from the true path.
Not being communist myself (i don’t believe in human kindness one bit), i must say that 99% of you yanks haven’t got a clue on what a communist state should be like. It has never been achieved (and probably never will) but it would be as distant of what is China today as it can get. In fact, i can’t remember a single real communist thing about today’s China.
Just like when we call western systems “democracies” when they are basically 4 or 5 years dictatorships because the people have no voice and parties rule all.
2 girls 1 cup
Interesting arguments and ideas.
costa200, Sime, might I put forth that part of the reason you will never see pure communism at work in this world is because it depends too much upon very foolish idea of depending on weak individuals.
As the old axiom goes “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”
Where are the checks and balances? What is to guarantee the freedoms of the people?
That is what makes “western systems of democracy” so wonderful. Ideally, it is to provide the maximum amount of freedom to the maximum amount of people and when the will of the people dictate that they prefer socialism, communism, or any other form of government, democracies can and will morph and change (can I use Spain as an example?).
I live in the United State. I am not proud of everything my fellow countrymen do or say but I am proud to be a “yank”.
I hope that not only the US but many other nations will continue to progress to allow maximum individual freedoms because that is what it really should be about.
The freedoms to make our choices and the economic possibilities to raise ourselves out of poverty. Sure, sounds great and optimistic but it sure beats the h3ll out of pessimism.
More comments plz! I love reading them all!
Cheers, yo!!
So any special deals from our Chinese brothers at WALMART?
@54 scoopex
“In the next 10 years there will be many reforms that will make the party a little more flexible and transparent as rich non-govt chinese become more influential. ”
That was what people were talking about 10 years ago… Fact is, this goverment is great for rich chinese people. They can basically make the wildest capitalist dream and exploit their fellow countrymen to the bone and nobody will lift a finger to stop them.
@49 Nazi Germany was a TOTALITARIAN CAPITALIST country
I’m not proud of what the US is doing to the detainees, and I think they should be allowed to argue their cases like any other prisoner. However, are you seriously comparing the allegations of what goes on there with what goes on in China?
How many women are being held at Guantanamo Bay? How many of the prisoners there have been burned with red hot irons? How many have had wooden implements and toilet brushes forced into bodily orifices until they died from internal bleeding? How many have had their organs removed and sold to rich people in other countries?
Is it right? No. Should it be stopped? Yes. However, if I had to be sent to a prison camp, I’d pick Guantanamo Bay over a prison camp in China any day.
I just watched ”already dead” the movie was awesome!!!!!
)) hope i don’t get banned 
sorry for the off topic martin
II IIIIII II
II II II II
II II II II
ILLLLL IIIIII ILLLLL
HEY !!! that was a LOL …:(
Rekrul, you mean like Volpe and his broom handle, that kind of torture? What about freedom? More prisoners per capita than anywhere…oh and what about the ‘Standardized Chapel Library Project’. Lol, freedom is a joke in the US, there is more freedom in China, and that’s fukked up.
Volpe was put on trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison, plus a fine, plus almost $300,000 in restitution for what he did. In China, Louima would have been left to die and Volpe would probably have been given a medal and a promotion.
Do we care? The Olympic Games are being held in China, they shoot ‘dissidents’, no we definatly do not care.
damn pinkos. boycott everything chinese. period.