Leeway seen in China Internet rules
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China is so keen to keep foreign investment flowing that it probably will let private Web sites work around strict new rules limiting video-sharing to state-controlled companies, analysts say.
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In an obvious effort to keep its citizens from seeing content that it hasn't already pre-approved, the Chinese government is about to block video sites it doesn't control.
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Internet users in Beijing and Shanghai said attempts to access Google&#160;and other search engines were successful Friday, despite claims on a U.S. blog that traffic to these&#160;sites was redirected&#160;to Chinese search engine Baidu.com.The claim first surfaced on TechCrunch, a U.S. blog that largely covers Internet startups before being picked up by other sites. The headline of that post alleged &quot;Baidu hijacking Google traffic In China,&quot; but offered no evidence to prove the claim apart from an undated, modified screenshot showing Baidu&#39;s Web page below the URL for Google Blogsearch.In a follow-up post, TechCrunch said &quot;new reports have surfaced that would indicate that China has unilaterally blocked all three major search engines in China and is redirecting all requests to Baidu.&quot; That report cited posts on other blogs, where users claimed to have been redirected from U.S. search sites to Baidu.A Google spokeswoman in Beijing did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.However, several Internet users -- four in Beijing and two in Shanghai -- reported on Friday morning that search engines operated by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, including Google Blogsearch, one of the sites reportedly most affected, were accessible. Attempts to reach these sites had not been redirected to Baidu, they said.Internet censorship is a serious problem in China, and regulators routinely&#160;block access to sites&#160;with content they don&#39;t like. But Chinese officials very rarely comment on censorship efforts, making it difficult for users to determine when a site has been blocked or is inaccessible for other reasons.Timing can be an important factor, with Chinese censors blocking access to some Web sites around politically sensitive dates, such as the June 4 anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and the Chinese Communist Party Congress, a political confab held once every five years to choose top leaders and set policy that is now underway in Beijing.Access to a search engine can also be blocked if a user searches for a politically sensitive word, such as a search for information on the banned Falungong religious sect.Tracking the ebb and flow of censorship efforts can be a challenge, as access to sites can be blocked and opened, seemingly by whim. On Wednesday, Wikipedia remained blocked in China and access to YouTube was shut off. But censors eased off on other sites, opening up access to Google&#39;s Blogspot blogging service and permitting users to view pictures on Flickr, which had been blocked even though the site was accessible in China.Even when Web sites are accessible in China, there can be moments when sites cannot be reached. For example, one of the Chinese Internet users in Beijing contacted for this story said he was unable to reach Google.com three days ago. Attempts to reach the site were not redirected to Baidu, and Google has been accessible during the last couple of days, he said.While the Chinese government may not be redirecting search-engine traffic to Baidu, censors did this in 2002, just before the previous Party Congress opened in Beijing. At that time, censors cut off access to Google and redirected traffic to several local search engines, including Baidu. However, the rerouting did not affect all users and did not appear to be done at a national level, analysts said at that time.&#160;
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Just in time for Halloween, Google&#39;s YouTube became available again in China Wednesday, two weeks after it was blocked.Although Chinese Internet regulators don&#39;t comment on why sites are blocked,&#160;YouTube&#39;s blocking&#160;seemed to be tied one or two events: the 17th Communist Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party&#39;s most important meeting, held every five years; and the launching of YouTube&#39;s traditional language site in Taiwan, both during the same week in the middle of this month. The YouTube Taiwan site is also available in China.However, while YouTube can be viewed again, Blogspot is once again unavailable, one of several sites that see-saw between being allowed or prohibited. Although attempts to reach Blogspot&#39;s homepage rerouted to Blogger.com&#39;s simplified Chinese homepage, neither Blogspot owner Google&#39;s official blog nor the infamous Chinabounder blog -- which features the sexual exploits and political rantings of a foreign English teacher in Shanghai -- could be reached.Blocked throughout the recent changes&#160;is the English-language site of Wikipedia. Its Chinese-language site is&#160;almost always unavailable&#160;here.China regularly blocks access to Web sites that it finds objectionable, including those dealing with politically sensitive subjects such as the Falun Gong religious cult and independence for Taiwan and Tibet, along with some pornographic sites.&#160;
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China will take a new step Thursday to tighten control of the Internet when rules go into force limiting online video-sharing to state companies. But regulators, wary of hurting a fast-growing industry, are expected to let private operators work around the restrictions.
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BEIJING  -- Fearful of soaring Internet addiction  and juvenile crime, China has banned the opening of new  Internet cafes this year, state media reported on Tuesday.
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Impressive evidence of the Chinese government's ability to monitor and control electronic communication shows one reporter how far the country is going in order to control and "purify" the internet. He applies what he learns, supplying tips on how to breach China's Great Firewall.
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By ANICK JESDANUN  NEW YORK - The Internet's key oversight agency sought Friday to identify policy disputes that might arise from the introduction of addresses that end in non-Latin scripts, marking one more step toward making the Internet truly global.
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When Chinese Web surfers try to the big three U.S. search engines, they're reportedly redirected to Baidu. Recent political events, including Dalai Lama's American award, may be to blame.
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Chinese Wikipedia users say the Web site highlights the resilience of an information control system whose reach goes beyond simple censorship.
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The Chinese governmentâs censorship of Web sites with no discernible political content has fostered a backlash.
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New rules imposed by the Chinese government indicates that authorities are not loosening their grip on bloggers, something they indicated they might do.
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(InfoWorld) - The Chinese government will not approve licenses for new Internet cafes this year as part of a move intended to strengthen government control over the popular Internet access points. "The number of Internet bars across the country will not increase during 2007," said the directive (in Chinese), entitled "Notice regarding stricter management of Internet cafes and online games." The construction of Internet cafes that have already received approval from the government must be completed by June 30, it said. The directive was approved by 14 government agencies, including the Ministry of Information Industry, Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Finance. Besides seeking to restrict the number of Internet cafes, the directive reiterated the government's intention to shut down unlicensed Internet cafe operators. Internet cafes are popular among Chinese Internet users, including young people who may spend hours at the cafes downloading music, watching movies or playing online games.
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China is debating whether to relax control of the Internet during the Olympics, allowing access to banned websites such as the BBC, a spokeswoman for the organising committee said Tuesday.
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China is enforcing more monitoring of online games, a state news agency in the country reports.
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China backs down from a censorship plan that required people to register on blog sites with their real names.
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China released a self-discipline pact for Chinese search engine providers to reject web porn Wednesday. The new regulation, promulgated by the Internet Society of China (ISC