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China

UPDATE: YouTube blocked in China?

By thomascrampton ⋅ October 17, 2007 ⋅ Post a comment

UPDATED March 17, 2008: YouTube now appears blocked in China once again due to the violence erupting around Tibet. See comments below for getting around the block. Good luck!

XXX

Oct 17, 2007 at 9:24am: Blogger.com is back up, but YouTube now appears blocked in China.

It is hard for this newcomer to follow the vagaries of the Great Firewall! It is also difficult to video blog on a blocked platform.

UPDATED: 16:50 There are now reports from Techworld and Transpacifica confirming the blockage on YouTube, but also saying that Flickr has been unblocked.

UPDATED at midnight:

Is the blockage in Beijing due to the opening YouTube’s Taiwan version? Here’s an excerpt from an AP story from today:

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Google Inc.’s YouTube said Thursday it has launched a version of the video-sharing site in Taiwan in its latest push to expand in foreign markets.

The site features locally produced content, including that from YouTube’s four Taiwan media partners, China Television Co., Sanlih E-Television Co., Lion Travel Service Co. and Taiwan Broadcasting System, YouTube said in a statement.

Steven Schwankert of Sinoscuba (and IDG News Service) is one of the few to dive into the issue in depth with this good summary of the situation.

How to get around the blockage? This from Shanghaiist:

We are getting really tired of this on-again off-again situation and may just whip out our credit card on Witopia for a personal VPN. Apparently it’s just US$39.99 per year and we’ve had quite a friends raving to us about it now. If any of you geeks out there have other fabulous ideas on how to beat the Youtube block, PLEASE get in touch with us at info AT shanghaiist DOT com.

Another fix to watch YouTube is HotSpot Shield suggested (with reservations worth reading) by Jottings from a Granite Studio

(Merci Krapax de Wuhan)

UPDATE: YouTube is no longer blocked as of October 31! Woohoooo!!!! That was a tough couple of weeks.

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China, Media

Discussion

Comments are disallowed for this post.

  • well, that is too bad.
    http://www.jordanshoesclub.com
  • liyang
    unavailable again What a shame !
  • Suian
    As it has been already said - such kind of problem appears sometimes. But I found the solution which is suitable for all of us - it's http://strongvpn.com accounts! The easiest way to access any block site!
  • YouTubeRobot.com today announces YouTube Robot 2.0, a tool that enables you to download video from YouTube.com onto your PC, convert it to various formats to watch it when you are on the road on mobile devices like mobile phone, iPod, iPhone, Pocket PC, PSP, or Zune.
    Product page: youtuberobot.com
    Direct download link: youtuberobot.com/download/utuberobot.exe
    Company web-site: youtuberobot.com
    E-mail: support@youtuberobot.com
  • kevin
    I'm in Guangzhou not far from Hong Kong and I can't get onto YouTube. I'm just visiting so won't be here for long.
    Oct 23, 2007 (local date)
  • dave
    "Website?" I had a website (Xanga) which I haven't seen in a year thanks to blocks. Anonymouse is useless. It doesn't work for me. Although it has worked for a friend of mine in Shanghai. No luck here.
  • Ahaha j'ai trouvé une explication.
    En fait c'est un complot entre la Chine et Loic Lemeur, pour promouvoir seesmic par ici (et ça marche, je viens de m'inscrire) :p

    Sorry for my french =)
  • You're welcome =)

    Arghh http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html doesn't open youtube...
  • thomascrampton
    I don't know how to get around it. Everyone always talks about proxy servers like Tor and Gladder, but I've never been able to make them work very well. Quite frustrating, actually!
  • Moaner
    It certainly appears to be the case. Is there any way we can get around this?
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thomascramptonconf

Thomas Crampton was a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, reporting from five continents, writing a column on Asia and covering Asian politics, economics and culture. Currently based in Hong Kong, he writes here about China, the Internet and New Media seen from Asia, while also advising companies on digital communication strategies. For more information click here...