China Blocks Access to iTunes Store
China's authorities have blocked access to all eight million or so songs in the iTunes music store, apparently because one album -- Songs for Tibet -- doesn't sit well with them.
Songs on the album include criticism of the same so-called "great firewall of China" that now prevents it from being purchased from iTunes in China.
"We issued a release saying that over 40 (Olympic) athletes downloaded the album in an act of solidarity, and that's what triggered it," Michael Wohl, executive director of the Art of Peace Foundation, which released the compilation, told the Associated Press. "Then everything got blocked."
The screenshot to the right, taken last night in China, shows what users in China see when they try to access the store. An Apple spokesman responded, "We have no comment on the China question."
Although Apple does not operate a localized version of the iTunes music store in China, users with accounts at iTunes stores based in other countries, including the athletes Wohl mentions above, were able to purchase the album in China before the block was put into place. According to the Guardian, the Chinese government employs an estimated 30,000 people to block access to online material it finds objectionable.
Several well-known artists participated in the album (iTunes link), including Alanis Morissette, Garbage, Imogen Heap, Moby, Sting, Suzanne Vega, Underworld and others. It also includes a 15-minute talk by exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama. Funds raised through the album's sale go to supporting "peace initiatives and Tibetan cultural preservation projects important to the Dalai Lama," according to the album's iTunes description.
"It seems like suspending iTunes is punishment for iTunes, but really it doesn't hurt iTunes, it hurts us," said a note on Chinese Apple fan site macfans.com.cn, according to the AP.
China's attempt to block the album (and everything else available in the iTunes store, for that matter) could have the unintended effect of further raising awareness of the album and the issues it champions.
Songs for Tibet was the top-selling iTunes rock album in the world during the first week of August. Here's one song from it, Imogen Heap's "Hide & Seek 2":
And here's the promotional video put together by the Art of Peace Foundation:
See Also:
- Composer Says Beijing Olympic Committee Ripped Him Off
- Espionage Against Pro-Tibet Groups, Others, Spurred Microsoft Patches
- The Great Firewall: China's Misguided — and Futile — Attempt to Control What Happens Online
- Dr Pepper Bets Against Chinese Democracy
- Chinese Democracy: Only at Wal-Mart?
Screenshot courtesy of source in China who would prefer to remain anonymous
I just want to say that anyone wants to subvert or to dissolve our country will never be welcomed by ordinary Chinese people. Although they hate the dark side of the government, no one applauds disintegration of their country.
I know some of you will say that people(like Tibetans) have the right to set up their own country if they are unhappy with the country they belong to. That's nonsense since someone has been constantly driving a wedge between Tibetans and other Chinese. Those ringleaders have been dedicated to subversion, assasination, invasion and predation for decades, and now they are taking a moral high ground to ask us to bend to the whims of their agents in China? I just have two words for them: shut up!
really? the dalai lama is dedicated to predation? i thought he was a vegetarian :)
also bing, ur an nationalistic idiot. china sucks and will keep on continuing to suck until it stops being a totalitarian communist country and magically turns into a democracy or some form of democratic socialism. also acceptable are a galactic alliance, the chiss ascendancy, or the sii ruuvi imperium
oh and those chinese gymnists are 14 and not 16. so fuck china
right, people wanting to practice their own religion usually tend to employ assassins, invade countries about a 100 times larger than their own and try to slowly sneak their propaganda into mainstream media...surely you have studied political science my chinese friend. Because we surely love disintegration of our country, much more than you apparently.
Now tell me what that has to do with an overreacting chinese government blocking the itunes store.
Why does anyone care about Tibet ? Should the southern red necks in america who want to fly confederate flags and take pride in there treasonous and cruel heritage be afforded the same respect as the Tibetans ? No. Yes china is over reacting but please wake up to the reality that china is the fastest growing economy in the world and while we owe 9 trillion dollars they have 1 trillion saved up. You can invest in your little protests and support the dali lama all you want but the rest of us will watch the olympics and get business degree's to make money off the chinese market. Go smoke some pot you hippie. Patriotism is not ignorance.
Hey, Bing, do you do your own research or just go by what your government tells you? The People's Republic of China invaded Tibet and took control of it in the 1950s, killing tens of thousands in the process. And their lives got SOOOO much better as a result, with an estimated 400,000 killed since the invasion, and nearly 3,000 a year facing the extreme hardship and exposure necessary to flee to exile.
Don't be surprised they hate China, or that they fight against you. Why the hell wouldn't they? "Set up their own country"...HA! It was theirs in the first place, not yours.
However, BACK ON TOPIC:
Shutting down the entire site for one album? Yeah, that's brilliant. And completely discreet. No one will question what that was about, and they'll just let it drop, because their government wants them to. Congratulations, Chinese govnerment - you manage to do such a crappy job of implementing your rights-violations that you call far more attention to what you are trying to ban than if you would just LET IT GO.
@Inevitability
"Patriotism is not ignorance."
When it results in total forgiveness and acceptance by the people of the questionable practices of a government that is supposed to protect them you can bet your ass that's ignorance. Who gives a fuck how fast their economy is growing? Great and dandy...that doesn't give them the right to steal another country. Seems like you're the one that needs to wake up.
Did anyone mention that song sucks? Anyway who cares? Oh noez some stupid hippy organization made some video that people will only by for show. Not like it's going to be a difference -.-
@wtf?
actually, the most obvious purpose of patriotism is to foster ignorance, here is a link to a good blog about it I found a while back :d
http://www.jitzul.com/blog/index.php?target=34
@josh
Lawl at the star wars reference, but did you expect many people to know what your talking about?
as for Chinese nationalism and their obsessive ability to control the minds of their populous, what a sham, do they not realize that by fostering resentment, eventually they will have to endure revolution?
This is nothing more than a PR stunt by International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and Art of Peace Foundation. Unfortunately, the Chinese government took the bait and made it a headline.
AP casually left out the fact that these 40 Olympians were offered to download the $11.99 album for free (http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4579783.ece). So much for "an act of solidarity".
China thank you so much for just showing how mindlessly you jerk your knee. "OH MY *&&*(£& GOD, 40 OLYMPIANS DOWNLOADED A PRO-TIBET ALBUM!" China you have 2 billion people that listen and act to what the government says, but you are afraid of 40 athletes, you could 'boo!' them to death.
I feel bad for the poor chinese citizens.
How can we persuade them to take up arms and kick their corrupt dicatorial government out of the country, when we can't get the message to the citizens that the rest of the world will join in their fight for freedom?
Tibet? Tibet? I swear, for such a tiny country with no GDP whatsoever, it has done MUCH better PR than Taiwan, manufacturer of all your motherboards, ever has.
FREE Taiwan! haha. yeah, like that'll ever happen. The US is using Taiwan as a trading chip against China. US Policy=divide & conquer. Look it up.
@lawl
well it's wired so maybe. but i mostly put it for myself
@Greg - the rest of the world wouldn't join in their fight for freedom. Guaranteed. Way too much to lose with far too little to gain.
iTunes? The pet food crisis showed us China can make entire factories disappear within two weeks of American inspectors arriving. They are without doubt a powerful nation of Communists. After 50 years of cold war and billions of dollars spent fighting the evils of communism, why is it suddenly OK for American corporations and government to embrace this communist country?
greg, don't feel bad. as a Chinese citizen, I can assure you that most of us actually support the current Chinese administration. the continued existence of the current government is not due to the tight grip of dictatorship---the grip had been broken many times in Chinese history when people rose up against the emperors, our lack of your (mostly useless) 2nd Amendment protection notwithstanding. The government's popular support is largely due to its success in improving peoples' living standards in the past several decades. When various other Chinese governments--democratic and undemocratic, communist and capitalist--have all failed in the past 100 years, we are willing to stick with the one that happens to be working, for just a bit longer.
so thank you very much, but please, no sympathies for us. you go chase your own freedom and we live our lives in what you perceive as a "dictatorship." if we can learn anything from history, it's that we can peacefully coexist until someone wants to become others' savior.
The Dalai Lama's demons
Original URL:
http://www.france24.com/en/20080808-dalai-lama-demons-india-buddhism-dorje-shugden
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is revered as a hero by his people and respected world-wide for his peaceful philosophy. Today, however, there are cracks at the heart of his community. A minority of Tibetans exiled in India, including monks, no longer believe in his leadership, and are shunned by their peers. France 24 correspondents Capucine Henry and Nicolas Haque take a closer look into the widening rift that threatens to tear apart the Tibetan people.
Visit this website to find out the evil side of Dalai Lama on inflicting terrible human rights abuses on his own people and interfering with the religious freedom of thousands and thousands of people around the world.
http://www.westernshugdensociety.org/
I LIKE TO KNOW, WHY OK FOR AMERICANS CAN BUY EVERYTHING FROM CHINA, BUT CAN NOT BUY CIGARS FROM CUBA??
THESE GOOD CIGARS!
I hate to pour cold water on your burning passions but this story seems to be in error. I use iTunes every day and have downloaded numerous songs and podcasts over the past week, including today. I am located in Guangzhou.
China's attempt to block the album (and everything else available in the iTunes store, for that matter) could have the unintended effect of further raising awareness of the album and the issues it champions.
For sure, first time I hear about this album !
You can't really trust anything someone supposedly from China says about this situation. The Chinese government pays people to post propaganda 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Crempole Stalwart,
You're absolutely right, the Chinese government does pay people to post propaganda 24 hours a day. Have a look at these comments (link below). If that r0isin guy isn't a Communist Party hack, he's certainly a sympathizer in China:
news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10023155-37.html
if a government can't even withstand the existence of an album of pop stars singing about a province, then it can't be that strong of a government.
hmm the gov. blocked it... uhh... proxy anyone? i'd just proxy it and get it. Or get it off a torrent or some website with it that can be easy to find.. or through msn from someone and then sell it. silly government, you cant stop everything ever lol
It's funny when Americans scold others for invading other countries and killing tens of thousands of innocents. Ignorance is awesome.
To "Bing":
I fail to see how rampant human right's violations by your pathetic government has anything to do with "disintegration". What's worse: A Free Tibet or a government that controls how and what you can see, say, do, or think?
Im sad that you stand up for the corrupt regime that runs your country. Im sad you can't see the difference between "country" and government", and im sad that you don't even have a voice. You are just parroting what your government wants you to parrot, whether you believe it or not.
Have fun being a mindless pawn for your leaders. Just remember, they'd shoot you dead without a second's thought if they could get richer or more powerful doing so.
You really think the "ringleader" is Dalai Lama? It seems to me that a citizen of the "totalitarian" country--me-- has a better understanding of the world politics.
You really believe that your country has perfect press freedom? Then have you found the weapon of mass destruction after tens of thousands of people have died?
You really think that you are better people, those who say "fuck China", those who account for 85% piracy of 2008 Olympics?(http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/08/19/7295-ncac-85-online-olympic-pirate-broadcasts-are-in-developed-countries/)
After you realize that you are just being arrogant, ignorant and brazen, your enthusiasm of bashing China may subside. You will realize that it's just the pot calling the kettle black.
Blah blah blah...Bing, what would happen to you for taking an opposing view of your country's Communist Party? The American regime is not without guilt, but when basic freedoms are suppressed with life term prison sentences, forgive us for not taking you seriously.
To Will:
First of all, I am not satisfied with my government. It has its dark side.
However, I'd rather subject myself to regime my bad government than to the invasion of the "gentlemen".
Don't blame me for nationalism. Don't pretend that you are as innocent as an angel. Didn't someone sell opium to our country to weaken our people with the threat of guns and canons? Didn't someone set fire to our museum that held treasure of hundreds of years? Between these people and my imperfect government, which one do you think I should choose?
To ComieCharlie
I can tell you, the online criticism of the government in China is everywhere. You guys are so busy with criticing the China that you create in your mind. Let me tell you: you guys are also somehow fooled by the media and your government.
(Yeah, protest is rare. That makes you feel so good about yourselves)
If China really blocks the iTune, Apple stocks will go down in next quarter. Take your money out now.
The main thing is that we will see REAL fireworks when China comes across a Specific Ocean and collects its debt from the Americans.
I'll look forward to that before I too am turned into radioactive vapor!
We'll see if Apple thinks differently about that.
I feel censorship in the air...
Hey Bing, you Chinese and your small peckers need to stop lying about your gymnasts ages!
To MrB:
I feel bad for you. That's how you react when you find yourself wrong? That's the definition of chivalry? I guess when Caferty said a "bunch of goons and thugs", he really referred to someone else.
Yours look big only because you use your moral and conscience as the reference point.
Plus, have you got any real evidence before you call other liars? I guess it's just because you feel upset after being defeated and overtaken by others.
Why do we Americans feel the need to impose our 'democracy' on other countries? We have unsuccessfully brought 'democracy' to Iraq - at the expense of ten (hundreds?) of THOUSANDS of dead innocent Iraqi people. People like you and the members of your family - innocent people just trying to live their lives. Not to mention that we have lost 4146 (and counting) American service members ( http://icasualties.org/oif/ ). All this because we thought Saddam was this horrible dictator and that the people of Iraq were SO oppressed - remember, there were NO WMD's, never were, and there was no link between the 9/11 attacks (vis-a-vis Al-Qaeda ) and Iraq. Fact was, although he was a dictator and killed a few people from time to time to keep his power (not at all unlike Bush's regime who are not remiss about killing THOUSANDS of people to get back at Saddam and try to secure some oil for our peoples' Hummers) Saddam did a pretty good job of taking care of his people. And these people who live outside of our American Bubble are not automatically ignorant for wanting to live under a dictator or communist regime who takes good care of them. Until the people of China rise up against their government, we should keep our inflammatory, fascist, Imperialistic comments to ourselves!
Two old women, Wang Xiuying and Wu Dianyuan, were threatened with labor camp for believing CCP word to put a protest booth at the Olympics. Half the Chinese are said to live on $2 a day. CCP, economic bosses, military indutrialists and university students form an oligarchy of the priviledged few who rule the Chinese masses. 30,000 CCP paid censors and propagandists burnishing Mao's rotten carcass, and a few may be here.
I just got an email from my mom who lives in china. She say's itunes is working now as of 3am CST.
that's a good one...but i think the article has it right...they just shot them selves in the foot...played right into the album's purpose, or rather attached a 100 foot NEON sign to it...The Great Fire Wall of CHINA BANDED I TUNES FOR THIS!!! COME SEE!!!!...its like a GTA advertisement,the more controversy people of authority cause, the more the masses become known to the item and thus the download's soar, more cash in everyone's pocket and in this case, the Tibet issue remains firmly intact..and even catapulted into the western spot light again...
hell i didn't even know that this existed till today..LOL..*YAY FOR GARBAGE (the band)*..now to go find their track..as for i tunes, im sure Job's will think of something...
they cant not have the 3G for long can they..LOL (actually the 3g kinda still sucks *shhhh* don't tell apple)
What fear was present in the face of natural disaster that Americans were waitting to invade,until the Mother of Unification flew in relief.
How many more would die of political attrition if they were permitted to live elsewhere. And business is not solely to blame for governmental denial of statistical fact which produced financial stagnation, yet it is the most heinous contributor,yet there are a few more
who would defeat themselves for trying too hard to achieve so much.
And the political ruin of how many came from so few rich? Not one of these! Then who?
Wow Bing. The fact that you think the slaughtering of thousands of Tibetans and the takeover of their country is at all equivalent to some tech pirating should be a red flag that you are not seeing the bigger picture. I'm not saying America is anywhere close to perfect, and we've done some hostile takeover's in our time, but at least I am not so blind as to believe my country always does the right thing.
Fucking Chinese. So happy in their snug prison.
First of all I guess I should make the point that I believe no country has a perfect government- never has, and never will really. With each style of leadership there are ALWAYS winners and losers. (Personally I feel that what is so appealing about a democracy is that there is at least some chance of change. Though perhaps not in the UK, where all 3 main parties seem to be much of a muchness).
My actual point being that whilst there are always things that a government will screw up or try to hide, once they are out, for the most part they will remain out and known to the public.
Why then, does the Chinese Government continue to deny and censor the fact that the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989 happened? If you were to try to look this up from China, you would find that there is very little mention of this, bar from the fact that there was a procession of tanks at that time? Government minders followed foreign journalists around during the lead up to the Olympics, and every time they tried to approach ordinary citizens to ask them about things such as the recent earthquakes (which were a terrible incidence), these minders chased people off saying they were from the chinese media office, and that either these people were not journalists, or that this did not help the image of China.
My final point of interest in this is one talented Paralympic Athlete, a man by the name of Fang Zheng, who was due to participate in the Paralympics of 2008, until he was barred because he was present during the events of 1989. His legs were crushed by tanks whilst rescuing a student, and he talks of this online on (uncecensored) websites. Yet, should you try to look this up online in China, it simply states he was involved in a traffic accident.
A country with one of the largest economies in the world China may well be, but whilst it continues to bury the truth about events such as these and other past atrocities (which are still far more recent than many other leading economies), it will never be a truly stable country.
@loljeez
Taiwan is basically free. They are part of China in name only, and the US would definitely intervene if China ever tried to take them by force. Tibet, on the other hand, is not even close to being free and is firmly under China's iron fist. That's why you see so many "Free Tibet" signs and people mostly ignore Taiwan.
I find it idiotic for any American to condemn China for its suppression of Tibetan monks...
when you've got 400 years of African-American slavery on your hands.
If China should be ashamed of oppressing the Tibetan need to establish their own country, then American should be ashamed of itself for not allowing African-Americans to establish their own land, post slavery.
Hypocrites.
However America feels about the Chinese, is how your own African-Americans feel about you.
Hypocritical indeed.
BING there is no need for evidence of your country lying about its gymnast ages. Just look at the girl, she still has baby teeth! It just shows how badly China needs to feel superior. They will do anything to "one up" someone else, even if that means the Chinese Government lying about ones age to win one more gold medal. You are probably being paid right now by China to argue with every individual on this post.
Wait how can Truth be comparing slavery to something that is going on in 2008? Hello, slavery is no more you idiot.
In 1979 Deng sent word (thru western diplomats and Gyalo Thondup, who is in good odor with China, Taiwan, India and USA) to the Dalai Lama recognizing his leadership and said that if he gave up demand for independence everything else was negotiable. The first Tibetan factfinding visited Tibet and China in 1979. CCP leadership warned the Tibetan delegates that PSB bodyguards would be needed to protect them from Tibetans. Everywhere the delegates went they were met by Tibetans with tears and love and respect. I hope some posts the videos of the delegations so that CCP toadies will stop libelling the Dalai Lama. People whose emotional range runs to either adulation or demonization need spiritual and moral depth. Free Tibet! Free East Turkistan! Free Chinese grandmothers and defense lawyers seeking justice!
Thank you, China's government higher ups, for making sure that Songs Of Tibet is adequately advertised throughout the world by the free advertising which you have given it. I only hope that Songs Of Tibet is as high quality to listen to as the book Wild Swans was to read.
Again, thank you very much!
Coronella Keiper, the author of the poem China Shall Be, submitted for a poetry contest at University of California at Davis ("Aggie U."), less than one month before the Tienanmen Square horror. Sure you remember me, the one to first use, in "China Shall Be" the new word "fatis", meaning "little steps upward in a moral direction."
F the chinks too.
Informational as well as an informal tone. You may www.travestisohbet.net or may not be BSing us with the company line but you have done it in a way that makes
lol bing bang bam whatever your name is you sound like an old woman bickering over nothing. a few facts:
1.) it is scientifically proven chinese have a small penis. I'm sorry to tell you but you will be made fun of the rest of your life.
2.) Asians (everyone over there) can't drive. You are smart but you can't drive. It is a world mystery why. Thats why you guys ride alot of bikes lol.
3.) You should pick the usa because the usa has the most power. If they wanted to they could blow up all of china. The only place to watch out would be korea, but the kinda stuff the us gov does behind close doors i doubt even korea could stop.
WRONG! I live in Shanghai and there is no problem with the iTunes Store.
If you live in Shanghai, your internet is censored. Thanks for playing though!
I can just imagine African-Americans in the United States having a chuckle amongst themselves... over the whole "America ashamed of Chinese practices".
I think America should mind its OWN business. I find leaving African-Americans stranded on the roofs of low-income housing, and when less than two months before, aid was delivered to Thailand for the tsunami aid in less than 48 hours.
Media overage and pretty paint.
America is a hypocrite.
The way that Americans feel about the Chinese
Is how African-Americans feel about "Americans"... I'M SURE of it.
Hypocrites.
Because at the end of the day. Most of these comments have nothing to do with China's Internet practices, and EVERYTHING to do with "Americans" shifting its racist binge from Blacks to the Chinese.
Sounds like these two groups of people have some AMAZING networking to do.
Truth indeed.
freedom,it's a great.us government don't kill thousands of arabic.plz stop.they need freedom.remember tibet(xizang) was,is ,will always a part of China. i am a Manchu. it is a part of chinese group.like Zang minority. going to china,to see,i was a little little girl,my mom said seeing is believing.
those comments up the to come from those guys who block the fire wall, they found the page first!
Next play Apple! What do you do? Lose so many millions of downloads by standing up to China. Or, like so many others (including our country/biz at times) turn a blind eye, take a few songs off China wouldn't allow, joining an "economic alliance," suppress their information so in return you continue to make lots of money (aka greed in this option)? My first guess is they need to make more money! Enough is never enough!
the us is getting over the racist bonds of the past - ever be it so slowly. But don't diffuse the situation. This is about China's suppression of information! Something the US is vastly open to!
-------------- PS: mayor Nagin of New Orleans was re-elected by the people who he was to protect. Did he? Those people on rooftops were left in their homes just like all those buses left in the parking lot after the flood. Are you telling me Nagin can't drive a damn bus? Please! Or he can't make executive orders for his staff, county workers to drive the bus? Please! Don't kid yourself. He knew the exit and he took it. Why didn't his voters follow him! If then you say it's because they are helpless, then have the pickups in front of the welfare office! jK! just drive around the streets with a mega phone! When there is a will there is a way! I lived in a hurricane zone in one of the worst floodings in history and our elected officials were active!
To Bing: i like your nationalistic pride. however, a few things are missing from you reasoning. the only reason the british took control over parts of the region (hong Kong which is the only real bastion of freedom there today) was because the Chinese burned the stockpile of opium and refused to pay. Also, you are right the British did sell it, however, who bought it? In the US if a product was bad we would boycott it - too bad we don't do enough of that today though! my point is the buyer is just as wrong as the seller!
Freedom is the only thing our grand parents or possibly great grand parents have fought and left for us! Tibetans are still human, they just as equivalent as a normal Chinese citizen. what the Chinese government's being doing is wrong! they are using extreme forces to take away privileges of Tibet and that's not right!!! i think when things like this happens, we need to unite the world and combine all of our forces to fight against the unfair!!! after all they don't look alike, they speak different language and believe in different religion, so why trying so hard to make Tibet become a part of china, when you can do the world a favor and let them go???
Chinas totalitarian roots emerge from Dynastic eras. With warring factions, it's not like there's a coup. MILLIONS die. The roots of totalitarianism emerge from their Dynastic experience. It is well-suited. Any kind of democratic transition which is apparently difficult to impossible without a large middle class is unpredictable: The country is so diverse and large that nobody knows what's happening, or going to happen, with it.
As a record label/exec. prod./ we expect China, as well as roughly 2/3rds of the US, will not buy music, as everyone expects it for free. So for starters: STOP ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING OF MUSIC. People pay to make it, each and every time. Is .99 really too much for all that effort they put into it?
In the meantime, see what serious investment brings: www.zetavang.com
What the hell is wrong with you people? The sentiments expressed in comments like these make me feel like we're just getting closer and closer, as two "super power" countries, to the third World War. Clearly, that's all we need.
I love America. I don't love everything we've ever done. I don't love George W. Bush and I think the invasion of Iraq was totally ridiculous. So many lives, so much money, so much of our security as a nation down the drain.
But I still love America, and I think Bing has every right to love China, and to love being Chinese, and to have nationalistic pride. And were I to visit China, I would respect Bing, Chinese culture, the Chinese laws, and the Chinese people.
I know the internet is an open ring, but why is it so hard to respect someone else's opinion and way of life? Your mothers obviously didn't teach you as well as mine did.
Do I agree with what China is doing in Tibet? No. I'm glad artists are talking about it. But I also can't help but feel like we need to get our people out of Iraq and deal with our own issues right here at home before throwing the gauntlet at any other countries. This "world policing of communism" crap is so 1950s McCarthy era.
Bing, I don't agree with you, but I support your right to love and defend your own country, and I hope you support mine. I believe that most Americans feel the same way, and that opinion hasn't been reflected here. And I'm sorry for that.
And as for itunes being blocked: WEBSTORE and PROXY. You can't police the internet dude. The internet is its own country.
To all of you:
Perhaps you don't believe, but I and all other Chinese people hate all the bad things that the government did. You are just on-lookers, but we are the victims. Of course we know that's bad and we want it to disappear.
I know that many of you are criticizing due to genuine sympathy and righteous belief. I have seen westerners collecting money for Sichuan earthquake victims. I have seen Westerners playing shows in street to support Beijing Olympics with traditional Chinese art. I really appreciate these their sympathy and help.
However, sometimes, some people just don't distinguish the wrongdoers and victims. Maybe it's just because they don't realize that they should more specific. But to us, it feels like they believe Chinese people are evil by nature, that's why they have authoritarian government, that's why all the bads things are going on there. Think about this, suppose some of you are abused by your parents. What do you think if others say something like "that whole family are pure evil"? You feel hurt, you get defensive, don't you?
In the heat of the debate, some of us lose control and begin to exchange bad words. Those words make them bad people, no better than each other.
These little things distort our initial feelings: your sympathy and noble belief, our complaints against our government. Sometimes it is rediculous: those with righ beliefs end up lashing at or cursing the victims and victims end up defending the wrongdoers.
Leaving all the politics aside, I find it quite ironic that Apple's getting to taste what a real Reality Distortion Field feels like. Maybe that'll teach Steve Jobs how weird it feels to the non-fanboys to hear him feeding his BS about stability, speed, security etc. to hordes of hypnotized followers.
Lol well bing and everyone else america will always be racist of whats not theirs.. if you aint white they will be racist behind close doors or make little jokes thats just how it is. The only ones who have a right to make jokes and be racist should be jews and blacks because they went through slavery and still haven't been paid to this day... and not only that if it wasn't for slaves the usa wouldn't be shit because that was all free labor. Without free labor if they had to pay for all the thousands of slaves they wouldn't have made 100% profit... and you think we in debt now? lol.
It serves the athlete's right. they are there to compete in sporting events, not make political statements. Show some respect to your host country for Christ sake. Look what happened to the Soviets and the US during the 80's, a fucking boondoggle. Shutup until you get home and then you can say what you want. Why is that so hard to understand?
To Baalpeteor: people (including you, but you carry more guilt for some reason) are inherently prejudice. That's why there are nation states as well as ethnic neighborhoods. As far as the only people who can complain are blacks and jews. are you kidding? and at if whites just say okay, when should the criticism stop? Should that always be held over their head? Let's get facts straight: the majority of blacks (to the new world) were slaves in africa and were traded/bought first by the portugese to continue to be slaves. yes it was harsher in US. But, what progress has Africa succeeded in today if those slaves were never bought/traded then? I'm sure there are few and far between cities in Africa that are richer than black dominated Atlanta, GA!
---for the jews, don't you think a whole nation called Israel is enough?
You're an extreme scalawag! Wake up and quit being a sympathizer!
Stop makin this thing about jews and blacks or whoever.
So the Chinese blocked iTunes for a while? No big deal.
Doesn't really affect anybody on here,
so who cares?
Chinese Olympics organizers may be better than Las Vegas and WWW shows. Who cares?
In the US abandonment of equal time and objective gave rise to Swift-boating and Wall St scams. So when a nation and people abandon respect for truth there are unfortunate consequences. Like NBC and CCP honoring Mao who dined when Chinese starved, who executed prostitutes while he screwed all good looking Chinese women around him, and who murdered some 70 million Chinese. Thanks to WalMart and big American corporations, CCP can afford to have 30,000 propagandist deciding what Chinese can and should know. CCP is the child of European Nazis and Communists and have punked the Chinese culture and people. Free Chinese from tyranny. Free Tibet! Free truth and justice so that all Chinese have enforceable human rights.
To Misinformed: Well if we wouldn't have been here, then we wouldn't have known better, so life in Africa would've been ok. Just like if computers were never invented like before 1930 or so, then we would've been happy without knowing the joys of computers. Then without slaves the USA wouldn't be what it is today and prob poverish or close due to not having paid for hundreds of years of labor. Europe would prob be the world power then or russia.
Americans regard questioning authority patriotic; there are bookshelves full of condemning Prez Bush. Thomas Jefferson said, the tree of liberty must be nourished by the blood of tyrants--so tyrants behaved. All this criticism makes USA stronger and patriotic. Only a member of a hive, ant colony or minnor school could enjoy rights and priviledges vicariously. Kissing up to CCP and Mao ain't gonna put doggie treats on the table. Naked we come and naked we go. Individual rights and achievements is for the free and denied to slaves and hive members--apologies to brave bs and ants.
i know this is the wrong group for this, but i can't help the digression! You don't make all of my points BAALP! but to yours...most great civilizations had slaves of some form (even today ie illegal immigrants). but Russian slavery (serfdom) was much worse as many historians agree. ps: the only thing slavery did was keep prices low. practically free labor means low costs. without slavery cotton and food would've been higher, but the people wouldn't have been impoverished because they still would've eaten and kept warm - keeping with the order of civilization and human survival. Africa, however, in many respects has remained stagnant. It is ultimately the culture and attitude of the people that reflects this. Western civ. has evolved to other methods besides cutting people's hands off if i may be simple! Also, i am happy with or without computers. After all information travels faster as does this message! And if i must ask a direct question, answer me this riddle! If the majority of the war between the states was mainly fought by white people, against white people, ultimately freeing the black slaves, how is it still the white man's fault? I'll get back to my earlier point of selling out one's brother for another as were black's in Africa sold to Europeans and americans. That's what it is about! Taking responsibility for yourself and acting as a representative of your people and culture! Some are better than others, some just don't care and would rather look to the past to remain in present bondage! Now look today! Call me a racist, if it makes you feel better, but as a majority blacks have not evolved much! yes, they had a staggering situation ahead of them, but quitting school in record numbers and not involving them self in the system instead of taking from it has done a disservice in a day where you have the freedom to choose. Choose to vote, go to school, have a baby, not be a father, be a father of many babies of different women, drive by's, gang life, etc! do you see my point?
Hmm, here's an interesting solution:
http://www.baneki.net
when i grow up i swear I'll send hu jintao a copy of Animal Farm
man china is flooding everywhere in my homeland with cheap labour too. i hate that man. can't they find their own jobs in the homeland.
man china is flooding everywhere in my homeland with cheap labour too. i hate that man. can't they find their own jobs in the homeland.
EDITOR: Eliot Van Buskirk | 
web sites:
As though anyone in China buys their songs, heh, when Baidu has a mp3 search and download section, for any song, for free.
Apple deserve to be slaped for indirectly funding terrorists, let this be a lesson.