File-sharing websites shut down
- Source: Global Times
- [03:27 December 08 2009]
- Comments
Hundreds of thousands of the BTChina.net 's daily users would have received a message saying the site had been shut down after receiving a government notice.(Photo:Xinhua)
By Song Shengxia
The government shut down at least one widely popular media file-sharing website Friday and blocked another in an attempt to curb the spread of unlicensed and pornographic content.
Had they attempted to access BTChina.net in the last few days, hundreds of thousands of the website's daily users would have received a message saying the site had been shut down after receiving a government notice, likely from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and/or the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
Similarly, the popular Garden of Eden website, ydy.com, appeared to have been blocked.
But contrary to other media reports, a similar website, uubird.com, was still accessible as of Monday night.
The latest action against peer-to-peer file-sharing websites comes on the heels of a recent campaign targeting pornographic downloads on mobile phones across the country.
The two State authorities mentioned above were not immediately available for comment on the latest action. But according to China Business Network (CBN), the shutdown order and block were part of the authorities' campaign to crack down on websites that operate without licenses, offer pornographic and obscene content, or provide copyrighted content without approval.
The peer-to-peer downloads themselves are called bit torrents, which allow users to download files of all sizes from other users, and to upload content to other users' computers.
Such websites are generally funded by selling placed advertisements.
BTChina, founded in 2003, had gained a large user base thanks to its free offering of many popular TV shows and movies, especially the latest American shows and Hollywood hits. According to Alexa, a website-traffic analysis agency, BTChina attracted 250,000 visits daily from China and abroad.
