Apple says service shut down in China

[Randy W]

in the SCMP

 

As Ten Years lands on iTunes in Hong Kong, Apple says service shut down in China

Tech giant says it wants to restore Movies and iBooks services in China, which were ordered to close last week by film and media regulator, days before iTunes Hong Kong began carrying controversial film Ten Years

 

 

Apple’s iTunes Movies and iBooks services were closed down in China last week, less than seven months after they started operations.

The news came shortly before Ten Years – the controversial independent film which won best picture prize at this month’s Hong Kong Film Awards, despite being banned in China – became available on iTunes in Hong Kong. The dystopian film imagines Hong Kong in 2025 with language police, mini Red Guards, radical protest and social alienation rife.

 

[Randy W]

. . . and, while they're at it, Disney's DisneyLife service

 

 

 

 

Apple iTunes and Disney services shut down by new mainland Chinese rules

 

Beijing’s aggressive new campaign to tighten control over online content on the mainland has claimed its first high-profile scalps: Apple’s iTunes store and The Walt Disney Company’s DisneyLife service.

It emerged on Friday that the two internet platforms were quietly closed under the new Regulation for the Management of Online Publishing Services, which was announced on February 13 and took effect early last month.

. . .

Under the new rules, domestic content providers who plan to cooperate with foreign companies or their joint ventures, foreign individuals and other overseas-based organisations must seek approval from the regulator.

Licensed online content publishers on the mainland are required to keep all servers and storage systems used in their enterprise in the country. These content providers must also practice self-censorship, according to the regulation.

In addition, local governments monitor domestic online publishers regularly and oversee their annual inspection.

“The rules are so broad that if the censors decide that they no longer want you providing any content they can force you to pull the plug,” said Paul Haswell, a partner at technology-focused international law firm Pinsent Masons.

“It is becoming an increasingly difficult and hostile market for foreign companies, and part of an increasing crackdown on the internet in China in the name of protecting online sovereignty,” he said.

. . .

Haswell pointed out that mainland consumers would be frustrated, but take the new regulation in their stride.

“If you consume online content in China you are used to developments like this,” Haswell said. “Consumers will inevitably turn to a local platform or else use a virtual private network to use foreign services. Chinese netizens are very skilled at playing cat and mouse with government censors.”