China censors online games

Boy, China certainly seems scared of fiction... and some not-that-great games.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technolog...

China censors online video games
The WW2 strategy game Hearts of Iron distorts facts says China
China is tightening controls on online video games.

It has set up a censorship committee to monitor games following the banning of a Swedish game called Hearts of Iron, which portrayed Manchuria, Tibet and Xinjiang as independent nations.

A previous Norwegian game, Project IGI2: Covert Strike, incensed officials for its portrayal of the Chinese army.

The committee is charged with banning content that "could threaten national unity", said the state press.

Future imports

"Online games with content threatening state security, damaging the nation's glory, disturbing social order and infringing on other's legitimate rights will also be prohibited," said a Chinese Ministry of Culture statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

The Ministry of Culture will import some foreign online games whose contents accord with Chinese national conditions and bring positive effects to young people's mentality
Tuo Zuhai, Ministry of Culture
In future only online games that are authorised by the Ministry of Culture can be imported.

Games currently in China must be examined by the committee before 1 September or the game operators will face punishment the statement said.

Members of the screening committee include teachers, university scholars, foreign affairs officials, information industry engineers and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Sex and violence

There are in excess of 140 online games in Chinese markets at the current time, with more than 80% of those foreign.

IGI2: Covert Strike angered Chinese officials
There are concerns among Chinese officials that the contents of such games are too often related to sex, violence and superstition.

Such content could adversely affect young people's mental health, said Tuo Zuhai, an official with the Ministry of Culture.

"The Ministry of Culture will import some foreign online games whose contents accord with Chinese national conditions and bring positive effects to young people's mentality," he said.

China censors a lot of things. The coldplay song ""spies"" was removed from the record in China.

I wish I could find the quotes from the Chinese astronaut who launched a while ago. Absolutely hilarious. Something along the lines of ""I orbited the people''s republic for the people in the people''s spacecraft where the combined labors of the people powered me around the earth built by the workers..."" etc., etc., etc.

So? They control their media. Every country does that. What''s the big deal? You can play games in the US, you can''t play them there. You can watch boobies in Europe, you can''t in the US. In Germany you can''t see blood on videogames.
And so on. This doesn''t even sound like news to me.

You can watch boobies in Europe, you can''t in the US.

News to me.

"ralcydan" wrote:
You can watch boobies in Europe, you can''t in the US.

News to me.

On public media, I mean

On public media, I mean

That''s kind of the point. Here, and in most of the West, there are considered inappropriate places for some things (basically sex, violence, and offensive language), but none of those things are truly censored. I can get full access to anything I want, sold openly. In China, it is a crime to sell materials the state deems threatening. Scary stuff.

In China, it is a crime to sell materials the state deems threatening. Scary stuff.

Like marihuana, I guess. In Mexico it was the birth control pill, for a while.

I wonder how long that will last tho?

Like marihuana, I guess. In Mexico it was the birth control pill, for a while.

You don''t see any difference between curtailing freedom of speech and limiting access to pharmaceuticals?

Well, freedom of speech is probably more threatening to their regime.

Speaking Of Freedoms...

China warns Britney
From correspondents in Shanghai, China
June 1, 2004

BRITNEY Spears has been given permission to tour China on one condition - officials want prior approval of her outfits to check they are not too revealing.

China''s Culture Ministry says Ms Spears is welcome on her first China tour, but they want to know what she''s wearing before she hits the stage, the semiofficial China News Service reported today.

Spears, who is currently on a world tour to promote her latest album ""In The Zone,"" is scheduled to perform five concerts in Shanghai and Beijing sometime next year, CNS said.

However, ministry officials are concerned about the star''s sexy image and have asked the concert''s Chinese organisers to guarantee she doesn''t show too much skin on stage, CNS said.

""Relevant departments will carry out strict reviews of Britney Spears'' performance clothing,"" the report said.

It wasn''t clear what standards inspectors will use or how they would be enforced. A spokesman for Spears could not be contacted.

The CNS report quoted an unidentified spokesman for the concert''s Chinese organisers as saying that the ministry''s wishes would be respected.

But he said Spears'' outfits and stage show are the same on each stop of the tour and it would be ""impossible to make up clothes specially for the China performances.""

Well, Britney Spears'' outifts and stage show are probably threatening to their regime.

"Mex" wrote:

Well, Britney Spears'' outifts and stage show are probably threatening to their regime.

Oh no, not at all. It''s all about this...

officials want prior approval of her outfits to check they are not too revealing.

personal previews of britney''s outfits? Coming soon to ebay - spears underwear, unused.

My accompanist (she plays piano, I sing. I pass my voice class) is from China, and it''s been...culturally interesting getting to know her these past three years. One trait that she has that is difficult for an obnoxious American like myself to get used to is...she won''t ask for things on her behalf, even if they''re small things. So I have to always make sure I''m not unintentionally making her go out of her way (like she won''t mention ""that day is bad for me, I am playing piano for 8 other people that day"" so as not to hurt my feelings).

The other really weird thing came up when she got her new ""computer"" which was about the cheapest thing you could get off the internet, no OS, no nothing. My polite Chinese friend was delighted to show me the ingenuity of her people, represented by her hacked versions of MS, MS Office, and a slew of other stuff. When she worked at the check out register at the deli, she kept offering me ""discounts"" as if this were a cool thing. Both things jarred with my impression of her as the kindest, most polite person I know.

So my guess is only based on knowing one Chinese person. How very American of me. But my guess is you can get any hacked version of anything you want in China, the day after (or in some cases) the day before it''s released. And somewhere a cute Chinese girl is smiling proudly at the ingenuity of her people. Kinda funny.

"Roo" wrote:

My polite Chinese friend was delighted to show me the ingenuity of her people, represented by her hacked versions of MS, MS Office, and a slew of other stuff. When she worked at the check out register at the deli, she kept offering me ""discounts"" as if this were a cool thing. Both things jarred with my impression of her as the kindest, most polite person I know.

So my guess is only based on knowing one Chinese person. How very American of me. But my guess is you can get any hacked version of anything you want in China, the day after (or in some cases) the day before it''s released. And somewhere a cute Chinese girl is smiling proudly at the ingenuity of her people. Kinda funny.

What''s wrong with the discounts thing? You mean like stealing? Or just discounting... Some systems allow for that for special customers.

I don''t know. It sounds normal to me - she comes from a poor country where it''s probably considered indecent to buy software that is extremely expensive, when you usually have other more serious necessities, and they probably don''t have enough education about copyrights and all that.

I prefer open source free software - it just feels nice using OpenOffice.org . I''ve translated a thing or two for various free soft projects, and I love the whole idea.

My mandarin teachers are very similar - they do not see it as shameful to discuss discounts, or to ask students if they can go hang flyers at their businesses or schools, or if they can get their kid into an important corporation. And in the middle of class too. Unlike americans I''ve met, who seem to think it a dirty thing to discuss money in public, or while eating.

Chinese people that I''ve met seem to be very understanding about the whole ""do what you must, er, as honorably as possible, to get ahead"" economic thing, and they love to extoll the virtues of China and its people all the time, even in ridiculous things. Like ""Yeah, Chinese is so much better than spanish and english, it''s so short, it''s a fast language, and you can say many things in a little while, in english you have to taaaaalk and taaaalk... ""

Or saying that I can''t compete with their products, because Chinese products are 30 times cheaper... And the american student, who responded proudly that quality also counts, and developing a nice mini-flame war in the middle of class.

God, what a pointless rant.

Conclusion: It''s understandable that one may love their own country, and want their own people to get ahead, and this romantic vision may cloud judgment.

I''m not sure how their mockery of Cantonese fits into all this tho.