China is stepping up efforts to control its blossoming online video industry with new regulations on the ownership of video websites and requirements for censoring content.But it remains unclear how the new regulations, posted online Tuesday, would affect domestic and foreign players in the industry.The regulations, issued jointly by the Ministry of Information Industry and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, stipulate that online videos can be broadcast or streamed only by state-owned or state-controlled companies. That would treat dozens of video websites like television broadcasters and newspapers, which also are controlled by the state.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23005720-15306,00.htmlChina Clamps Down On Internet Video
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.
www.forbes.com/technology/2008/01/03/china-censorship-youtube-tech-intel-cx_ag_1203techchina.htmlThe videos we laughed, winced and wondered at are blocked by China
It was the internet story of 2007, the website that brought you sneezing pandas, laughing babies, an epic battle on the African savannah and a guest appearance by Tony Blair in a video starring George Bush’s dog.But for any web surfers in China, these and other gems purveyed by the video-sharing phenomenon YouTube look likely to become impossible to access, after the authorities signalled yesterday that they would no longer tolerate the “broadcast of degenerate thinking” on the internet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/04/youtube.videoChina tightens its grip on internet with video ban
China is to further tighten its grip on internet use by restricting the broadcast of videos on the web to only those run by state-sanctioned companies.In the government’s latest clampdown on cyberspace, all sites that provide video programming or allow users to upload video must obtain a government permit, with the only companies permitted to apply being those that are state-owned or state-controlled. The new rules, which – crucially – apply to video-sharing websites too, also require providers to report questionable content to the government.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3129749.ece