iTunes access restricted in China due to Tibet protest album
Bloggers being arrested, websites being blocked and now it seems that China may have blocked access to the iTunes store over what the government considers an “offensive” song.
China doesn’t like anyone protesting Tibet, even if you have filed the proper forms to do so. There are areas in China where protests are supposedly “okay” but the government may just be arresting anyone who files for the papers.
I’m not here to talk about China and its policies, I’ll leave that for the political blogs to debate but blocking access to the iTunes store, that’s just evil.
The album in question that prompted the action was “Songs of Tibet” which is available from the iTunes store. The Chinese government claimed the album was “offensive” to Chinese citizens and have called for a boycott of all Apple products, according to Information Week.
Yeah, I’m sure getting iPods out of the hands of those in China is an important policy of the communist government. They’ll have to make sure to grab all those “knock-off” iPods as well.
I’ll take this space to remind everyone that if you’re a blogger or journalist in China, do not question their policies, do not protest their policies, despite what you may actually believe. Protest the actions of the Chinese government in some place that there is not a 100 percent chance that you’ll get arrested for doing so.
It’s just not worth it. Apple has essentially what amounts to “no comment.” Let me remind you that corporations must follow the laws of whatever country it happens to be operating in.
Instead of blocking the whole iTunes Store, wouldn’t it have been more reasonable just to remove the album from the Chinese version of the store. I think it would have.
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September 28th, 2009
Fuck China’s restrictive small dick government and their sensitive insecure nerdy leaders. The leaders obviously have a problem if you can’t even listen to music or make even a modest critical comment about the country. You cannot change things for the better if no one is allowed to discuss whats wrong assholes! To bad the leaders won’t read this! I should send letters to their homes discussing this. I wonder if they would be offended then. What a bunch of pussies! How offensive can a comment or a song be? I meant for this to be offensive!
I love China, but hate the government!