Chinese President Hu Jintao thought he was going to Zagreb for a little bit of back-slapping action with his buddies who rule Croatia. Little did he know that thanks to his travel planners picking the hotel that they did, he might have to interrupt his diplomatic plans for some serious (and possibly drunken) Gears Of War 2… or at least a little “Nookie.” [China View / Twitter] More »
Google has the lion’s share of the search engine market in most countries; the major exception is China, where native search portal Baidu is by far the dominant site. This was achieved not just by being a local company sensitive to local concerns (though that is certainly a large part of it: Chinese consumers prefer their search experience to begin with an active page full of many options, a very different design than that offered by Google’s minimalist homepage), but by the company’s being bound only by local laws. Or, rather, the lack of local laws about linking to copyrighted material—which Google may have found a way of getting around.
The iTunes Store has been restored to service in China–minus the compilation Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace, thanks to its compilers’ suggestions that a number of Olympic athletes had downloaded the album in protest. The Chinese government has not offered any comment. More »
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Chinese officials have closed access to Apple’s iTunes Store after getting wind of Olympic athletes downloading Songs For Tibet, which features songs by the likes of Rush, Underworld, and Moby. (Proceeds go to “peace-related projects” that were hand-picked by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.) The ban came shortly after the Art Of Peace Foundation, which backed the project, sent out a press release saying that “over 40” athletes participating in the 2008 Olympic Games had used download cards they were given to download the album, thus “speaking” their mind about the geopolitical situation when the Games’ rules forced them to remain silent on the issue. This isn’t the first time musical support of Tibet has caused the Chinese government to clamp down, of course, and it’s unlikely to be the last.
Bjork called out “Tibet, Tibet” at the end of a performance of “Declare Independence” during a concert in Shanghai earlier this year, and now every other artist performing in China will have to suffer the consequences: The Chinese Ministry of Culture will now be tightening approvals, and screening… More »
Bjork called out “Tibet, Tibet” at the end of a performance of “Declare Independence” during a concert in Shanghai earlier this year, and now every other artist performing in China will have to suffer the consequences: The Chinese Ministry of Culture will now be tightening approvals, and screening… More »
So we’ve already learned that the recent hubbub over Bjork’s onstage shout-out to Tibet while in China has carried over into stricter performance guidelines for international performers playing on Shanghai stages. And first up for censure is, um, Harry Connick Jr.!
Bjork’s “free Tibet” hubbub at a recent Chinese concert not only pissed off government officials–who’d prefer not to, you know, make such a big deal out of the whole “dictatorial relationship with Tibet” thing–but now also Chinese promoters, who are kvetching that Bjork drawing more needless… More »
Last week during a concert in Shanghai, Bjork ended her performance of “Declare Independence” with a call of “Tibet, Tibet”; the Chinese ministry of culture was not pleased with Bjork’s outburst, saying that the song was “unapproved” and putting a statement on its Web site that says “Any attempt to… More »
