Feb 08 2008
government eases off on internet video regulation
It seems that the Chinese government has decided that to allow private enterprises with no “transgressions” to continue to post and distribute audio-visual content on the internet. (ie, videos a la YouTube) Thanks to China Digital Times for linking this story from the AFP:
China appears to have eased new rules allowing only state-owned entities to operate video-sharing services, saying existing private operators could remain in the fast-growing field after all.
State-owned companies would be the “dominant” force in leading the development of audio-visual content on the Chinese Web, a government statement seen on Wednesday said.
But that won’t rule out private firms that are in good standing with authorities.
“(Companies) that were launched in accordance with law before the rules were announced and have committed no transgressions can register anew and continue to operate,” said the statement posted on the Ministry of Information Industry website.
The rules, which were first announced in early January and went into effect last week, were widely seen as an attempt by Communist Party authorities to transfer the government’s television and radio censorship model to the exploding video-sharing segment of the Web.
The original announcement had said only “solely state-owned enterprises or enterprises whose shares are controlled by the state” would be allowed to operate websites that post audio-visual material.
The rules triggered unusually harsh criticism by some of China’s own state-controlled media, which said they would stifle development of the sector.
It remained unclear how successfully the government would be able to enforce the rules and how they would impact popular sites like YouTube and China’s Tudou.
Note that my blog title for this says that the government has eased off and not backed off in the way that CDT has labeled this story. Why? Because only existing operators with no problems can register for such a license. In other words, no new company can be formed and start distributing video content in China. So only those sites like YouTube, Tudou, and others can continue to post content. Everyone else wanting in is still locked out.
As a policy decision, this looks good for two reasons: (1) show the public that the government is not as pro-censorship as everyone accuses them of being and (2) still stifle video distribution by limiting it to SOE’s and existing companies. If you know anything about the internet, it’s that companies don’t last long. (think Friendster, Napster, Kazaa, ICQ, etc.) And so the government can look media-friendly and allow the existing companies to die off one by one over the years. Not a bad plan actually.
Two interesting notes as well. (1) China is going to have a hard time enforcing this. We all know that. However, the government will continue to do so. Don’t think a daunting task has ever been the reason for Chinese to not try. In some male-ego sort of way, the impossibility of the task makes it more inviting. (2) It was the SOE’s themselves that appeared to have criticized this decision. Why? Perhaps the SOE’s know that they cannot develop enough content to keep the people happy by themselves. Or perhaps the people in the SOE’s themselves like the less-censored materials that can appear on YouTube. Either way, this was a surprise. But it also shows that the Chinese government, for all of its faults, can respond to criticism in a way that is constructive. (though I also think the response is ingenious, as stated above)
Comments welcome.
