August 28, 2008 at 14:50The Chinese unlocked iTunes
ITunes was unblocked in the Great Chinese Firewall after a song about Tibet disappeared from the main page of the site.
The iTunes lock lasted about two weeks. Events developed like that. Tibetan activists released a music album and posted it on iTunes before the start of the Olympics. At the request of Tibet, about 40 athletes from the Olympic village downloaded this music (they received it for free). Editors from iTunes added the album to the list of Favorites and put a link on the first page of iTunes. The Chinese authorities reacted instantly and immediately closed access to the largest online music store, and Tibetan activists issued a press release on this subject.
However, after the Olympics ended, Apple removed the album from the “Featured” list, after which China immediately unblocked the site, although the “Tibetan Song” is still on sale, and not only on iTunes.
Such clear work by Chinese experts indicates how carefully they monitor the appearance of "hostile" content on the Web, correctly assess threats and adequately spell out new rules for the firewall, depending on the popularity of a site. They have powerful leverage over Yahoo China, Google China and MSN, and can easily dictate their will to the largest Internet portals. Such absurdities as with iTunes are extremely rare.
The iTunes lock lasted about two weeks. Events developed like that. Tibetan activists released a music album and posted it on iTunes before the start of the Olympics. At the request of Tibet, about 40 athletes from the Olympic village downloaded this music (they received it for free). Editors from iTunes added the album to the list of Favorites and put a link on the first page of iTunes. The Chinese authorities reacted instantly and immediately closed access to the largest online music store, and Tibetan activists issued a press release on this subject.
However, after the Olympics ended, Apple removed the album from the “Featured” list, after which China immediately unblocked the site, although the “Tibetan Song” is still on sale, and not only on iTunes.
Such clear work by Chinese experts indicates how carefully they monitor the appearance of "hostile" content on the Web, correctly assess threats and adequately spell out new rules for the firewall, depending on the popularity of a site. They have powerful leverage over Yahoo China, Google China and MSN, and can easily dictate their will to the largest Internet portals. Such absurdities as with iTunes are extremely rare.