China Blocks iTunes
Posted on: Thursday, 21 August 2008, 15:50 CDT
The Chinese government has blocked iTune's music store after more than 40 Olympic athletes downloaded a pro-Tibet album from the site.
Before the recent block, the Chinese Government had promised free and unrestricted Internet access for foreign journalists covering the Beijing Olympics.
Blocks have been lifted on some sites, but many more remain inaccessible.
On Monday, the US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) announced that 46 athletes from North America, Europe and even Beijing had used the site to download Songs for Tibet, which had been offered to them free of charge.
Later that same day web-surfers in China began registering complaints on help forums that they could not access the iTunes online store.
iTunes launched the controversial album three days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
It was produced by a band called The Art of Peace Foundation and promoted by ICT, and features 20 songs from high-profile artists including Sting, Moby, Damien Rice and Alanis Morissette.
"We spread the word around the athletes before the games that we were offering it to them for free," Kate Saunders of ICT told The Times. "Certainly we did intend the downloads to be a subtle form of protest for the athletes, as well as an act of solidarity for the Tibetan people and the Dalai Lama."
In what ICT called "a simple yet powerful symbol of personal freedom", during their time in Beijing, athletes were encouraged to play the album on their iPods.
The response from the athletes had been very positive, Saunders said. One unidentified athlete sent a message thanking The Art of Peace Foundation for its "efforts, music and passion for peace".
One Chinese government Information website, China.org.cn, reported that China's netizens were "incensed" over the album and were "rallying together to denounce Apple" and ban the singers and producers from the country. Some Chinese were intending to boycott all Apple products, it said.
Saunders said the authorities' hostile reaction has been very predictable. "The album was released at a politically sensitive time."
iTunes had been blocked by China’s cyberspace censors and was not merely experiencing a technical fault, computer experts said. Apple has not issued a response.
Saunders said that she had spoken to a representative from the company who expressed confusion at Apple's singling out by the Chinese Government.
"Apple is one of many retailers who are selling this album," she said. "It's not only iTunes."
Apple opened its first China store a month ago in Beijing and has been open about its plans to set up many more. Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and CEO and a practicing Buddhist, is also negotiating with Chinese mobile-phone operators to introduce a Chinese iPhone.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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User Comments (1)
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Posted by Mike on 08/21/2008, 19:20 Interesting! |
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