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Apple.com blocked in China?
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That is what you get with a socialist/totalitarian state. It sucks for Apple, but it sucks even more for the people who are controlled by their government.
Calebj14 said:maybe M$ has a deal with China. Maybe They're going to start a worldwide revolt against the United States!
LOL
ne way
it must be a glitch or the great firewall of china has something to do with it.
the chinese government hates Microsoft. I think they were trying to create their own linux distro
qubex said:
Ummm....
I guess a lot of us take freedom of speech/expression for granted - my god that's completley random! Video editing software as basic as iMovie (i'm not knocking it! i love it!) is illegal now?! Think i'll stick to Japan on my tour of asia...
Hob
Didn't PRC buy into AST as the official nationwide computer company a few years ago? That would mean that China prefers Mr Bill to Mr Steve.
as well as http://www.apple.com.cn there is also http://www.asia.apple.com
I don't see what the big deal is?
I don't see what the big deal is?
i question the political significance of this happening, and more so there is little support to the rumor.
More theories
Yes, I have also heard the same for a few weeks. A number of other possibilities,
1. Maybe Apple wants more people to make use of their Chinese language site <http://www.apple.com.cn/>? Is it possible for the block to be on this end? I gathered that their Chinese site had an update not too long ago, along with a all Chinese discussion forum.
2. Some pirate web site has an IP address that is close to Apple's? And the bamboo blocked a range of IPs.
From my other observation is that Apple has been lost to the bulk of broadband subscribers while not to many of the dial-up users. And yes, there's regional difference too. All very interesting!
Yes, I have also heard the same for a few weeks. A number of other possibilities,
1. Maybe Apple wants more people to make use of their Chinese language site <http://www.apple.com.cn/>? Is it possible for the block to be on this end? I gathered that their Chinese site had an update not too long ago, along with a all Chinese discussion forum.
2. Some pirate web site has an IP address that is close to Apple's? And the bamboo blocked a range of IPs.
From my other observation is that Apple has been lost to the bulk of broadband subscribers while not to many of the dial-up users. And yes, there's regional difference too. All very interesting!
Why make excuses?
This is really nothing new, and highly unsurprising. Mainland China has consistently blocked the ability of the majority of its citizens to have access to non-Official news and is highly restrictive of the individual's ability to spread ideas that are not explicitly approved. I don't get why people are so willing to excuse and explain this away as a corporate plan or DNS error - the Government is blocking the site. (Thankfully, at least, the PRC's IP blocking seems to be provincially-based, and is not universally managed, meaning some people in Shenyang get sites that those in Beijing don't, and vice-versa.)
While the Government has become much more savvy about how it restricts individual freedoms (expression, in particular) since the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, it has also become much more effective in its "fight" against dissenting opinions. No longer does the government arrest en masse, instead, they make surgical arrests and detentions. Internet access is much more widespread in urban areas, but the use and navigation is monitored and restricted. Many iconic American websites are blocked, as are British and a majority of western news sites are blocked.
It also makes a great deal of sense as to why the Beijing regime would fear Apple - although a relatively elite brand, it often advertises via both populist and rebellious messages and it seeks to ease the ability to share and present information. Final Cut and iMovie, in particular represent a great threat in a nation suffering widespread illiteracy and generally poor education amongst the majority of its citizens. Images carry much greater impact than any pamphlet, newsletter or book.
In part, this is because of the continued secessionist desires of the muslim Uighur people in the west and because of the increasing use of well-crafted homemade video messages within the largely uneducated Islamic world - the Chinese fear the impact that a well-made, persuasive and iconic underground video might have if it were to spread, not just amongst the already discontent Xinjiang province, but through just part of China's larger population.
(Few people realize that the primary reason why the Daniel Pearl video so shocked defense analysts was not because of the brutality of the murder, but the relatively sophisticated and compelling arrangement of the message portions of the video, which used complex image layering, synchronized music and very effective titling - elements previously unseen in video messages released by islamic fundamentalists which had a persuasive impact in western Pakistan, the eastern Caucuses and other parts of central Asia where literacy is low and the faith in images runs high - something which Hezbollah and Hamas have been relying upon for years with billboards and flyers.)
Beijing is also acutely aware of what happened in the Soviet Union, when dissidents were ignored and then deported -- a large network of sympathizers upset with the regime's repression used an underground network of hand-copied and mimeographed pages to spread the ideas of Sakharov and Soletsnetsin, even while in exile. The mainland government realizes that you can't arrest a concept, you can't kill ideas. Imagine what one person could do with a popular website and a small web-movie.
Even Hong Kong is being pulled closer and closer to the political and personal repression suffered by the mainland, with restrictive elections, mainland military presence and the recent "visit" by the largest PLA Navy flotilla to sail in years.
And I take exception to those people who make the "amusing" inference that somehow what is going on in the U.S. is worse. No, I'm not happy with the practices of the current, very secretive and stubborn administration, but we have it 10,000 times better here than every single person in China -- and come November, we at least get the choice to throw these clowns out on their arses, unlike the Chinese mainlanders, who didn't even get a say in who the CPC Central Committee chose (Hu Jintao) to act as Jiang Zemin's personal puppet after Jiang reached the mandatory 'retirement' age (Jiang still controls the military, a first amongst 'former' PRC leaders).
This is really nothing new, and highly unsurprising. Mainland China has consistently blocked the ability of the majority of its citizens to have access to non-Official news and is highly restrictive of the individual's ability to spread ideas that are not explicitly approved. I don't get why people are so willing to excuse and explain this away as a corporate plan or DNS error - the Government is blocking the site. (Thankfully, at least, the PRC's IP blocking seems to be provincially-based, and is not universally managed, meaning some people in Shenyang get sites that those in Beijing don't, and vice-versa.)
While the Government has become much more savvy about how it restricts individual freedoms (expression, in particular) since the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, it has also become much more effective in its "fight" against dissenting opinions. No longer does the government arrest en masse, instead, they make surgical arrests and detentions. Internet access is much more widespread in urban areas, but the use and navigation is monitored and restricted. Many iconic American websites are blocked, as are British and a majority of western news sites are blocked.
It also makes a great deal of sense as to why the Beijing regime would fear Apple - although a relatively elite brand, it often advertises via both populist and rebellious messages and it seeks to ease the ability to share and present information. Final Cut and iMovie, in particular represent a great threat in a nation suffering widespread illiteracy and generally poor education amongst the majority of its citizens. Images carry much greater impact than any pamphlet, newsletter or book.
In part, this is because of the continued secessionist desires of the muslim Uighur people in the west and because of the increasing use of well-crafted homemade video messages within the largely uneducated Islamic world - the Chinese fear the impact that a well-made, persuasive and iconic underground video might have if it were to spread, not just amongst the already discontent Xinjiang province, but through just part of China's larger population.
(Few people realize that the primary reason why the Daniel Pearl video so shocked defense analysts was not because of the brutality of the murder, but the relatively sophisticated and compelling arrangement of the message portions of the video, which used complex image layering, synchronized music and very effective titling - elements previously unseen in video messages released by islamic fundamentalists which had a persuasive impact in western Pakistan, the eastern Caucuses and other parts of central Asia where literacy is low and the faith in images runs high - something which Hezbollah and Hamas have been relying upon for years with billboards and flyers.)
Beijing is also acutely aware of what happened in the Soviet Union, when dissidents were ignored and then deported -- a large network of sympathizers upset with the regime's repression used an underground network of hand-copied and mimeographed pages to spread the ideas of Sakharov and Soletsnetsin, even while in exile. The mainland government realizes that you can't arrest a concept, you can't kill ideas. Imagine what one person could do with a popular website and a small web-movie.
Even Hong Kong is being pulled closer and closer to the political and personal repression suffered by the mainland, with restrictive elections, mainland military presence and the recent "visit" by the largest PLA Navy flotilla to sail in years.
And I take exception to those people who make the "amusing" inference that somehow what is going on in the U.S. is worse. No, I'm not happy with the practices of the current, very secretive and stubborn administration, but we have it 10,000 times better here than every single person in China -- and come November, we at least get the choice to throw these clowns out on their arses, unlike the Chinese mainlanders, who didn't even get a say in who the CPC Central Committee chose (Hu Jintao) to act as Jiang Zemin's personal puppet after Jiang reached the mandatory 'retirement' age (Jiang still controls the military, a first amongst 'former' PRC leaders).
Another Apple Site
I love how Apple makes these weird names. Also, the Chinese government sucks, so just somehow get out of there and move to the US or at least eastern Europe (not the middle east though).
You also forgot www.ipodrocks.comwindowsblowsass said:
I love how Apple makes these weird names. Also, the Chinese government sucks, so just somehow get out of there and move to the US or at least eastern Europe (not the middle east though).
Thanks, mustang_dvs, for the detailed lowdown on the logic of the Chinese government as it at least might relate to this issue; that's more or less what I've gathered from the people I know who're studying or living in mainland China, but you laid it out pretty clearly there.
This does point out just how futile it must feel for the traditionalist Chinese government to be trying to plug the holes in the dike trying to hold back information and popular dissent from the outside. Truth is, with the waves washing back and forth between freedom and crackdown gradually wearing away at the power of the state, it just doesn't seem like this anomaly in Chinese history is going to last much longer, and it might not even take a bloody revolution to get it there.
This does point out just how futile it must feel for the traditionalist Chinese government to be trying to plug the holes in the dike trying to hold back information and popular dissent from the outside. Truth is, with the waves washing back and forth between freedom and crackdown gradually wearing away at the power of the state, it just doesn't seem like this anomaly in Chinese history is going to last much longer, and it might not even take a bloody revolution to get it there.
micvog said:
In the June issue of MacAddict they talk about this legal fight. "Apple is the grieved party in this trademark dispute with China's Guangdong Apples Industrial (www.apples.com.cn), which produces leather accessories and apparel bearing a logo similar but not identical to Apple Computer's." Perhaps this is why Apple Computer is blocked in China. Does anyone know if Apples Industrial is blocked over there as well?
mammals.org, whatever it is, is blocked too. Thanks for the screenshot.Awimoway said:
Notice how the chinese one at www.apple.com.cn does not feature iTunes 4.5 or Motion, nor the new laptops. Any one of those items could be the reason for the blockade.
You have people living in China, myself included, confirming this fact - and you still say there is "little support"?! Are you joking or what?Steven1621 said:
As for the BBC URL: My bad. I haven't typed it in so long I forgot what it was meant to be! But yeah, it still doesn't work, even when I type the right one.