China: New regs seek to control video-sharing sites

From RFA’s Mandarin service:把自己拍摄的生活录像，或者自己喜欢的电影电视节目传到网上，与更多的人分享，个人的生活空间随着网络的延伸而扩大。总部在广州的我乐网就是提供这种网络视频节目服务的公司。过去2年多来，这家网站播放过5000多万个视频作品，注册用户达2500多万。该网站工作人员表示，他们是中国最大视频分享娱乐网站之一：

It could soon be much more difficult for Chinese netizens to post video to ordinary Web sites or to the Chinese equivalent of YouTube under a set of new rules aimed at imposing strict controls on online video. If you take a look at this recent video of clashes between riot police and villagers in Baima village, Guangdong province, you can see how this kind citizen journalism is becoming increasingly normal in China, where the official media is barred from covering rural unrest of this kind.

56.com, an Internet Service Provider in Guangzhou, has been hosting such a site for th past two years, with more than 50 million videos currently on its servers.

An employee at the company told RFA’s Mandarin service that the company offered one of the biggest video-sharing sites in the country:

“一般的网友拍的一些DV和他寄的一些唱相片，上传到我们这里都是可以播放的。这个网站上面写过一些不能上传的视频，我们的规则都是在我们网站上传视频的那一页，很明确的提醒。很多用户都是喜欢上我们的我乐网，点击率比较高的应该是在游戏这一块，还有一些拍的新闻之类的。一些玩游戏的玩家在玩游戏的同时，自己录制一些视频，把自己的一些经验上传上来，因为现在玩网游的人是比较多的，一般看视频的话就是一些青少年。”

“Most users upload video they have shot themselves…and it can be broadcast as soon as hey have done so. There are some guidelines on the site about what sort of videos are not acceptable. They are visible on the upload page. It’s a very clear reminder. Many netizens like to use our service. The games section probably gets the largest numbers of views, along with the news-oriented videos. Some of the gamers also like to upload their own video which they have made about their own experiences…There are a lot of gamers online at the moment. A lot of them are very young people.”

像我乐网这样的视频网站，中国大概有160来家。中国媒体透露，大部分视频网站都是有风险资金介入的民营企业，没有许可证的企业也不少。中国广播电影电视总局和信息产业部近日出台《互联网视频节目服务规定》，不仅要求这类公司申请许可证，还要求这类公司必须是国有控股或者国有独资企业。中国为什么对网络视频公司提出这样的要求？经常在互联网上发表文章的陕西异议人士邓永亮先生分析说：

There are approximately 160 sites offering similar services in China. Domestic media reports say the majority of them are private enterprises financed by venture capital, and quite a few of them operate without a license from the government. The Bureau of Broadcasting and Film, together with the Ministry of Information Industry have recenty issued a new set of regulations entitled “Service regulations for video programs on the Internet”. Now, this sort of company will be forced to apply for an operating license. What’s more, only companies in which the state is the main investor or in which it holds a controlling stake will be awarded such a license.

“这些规定的目的只有一个，就是加强国内有可能出现政治异议声音的控制。随着人民生活水平的提高，人民的追求不时深刻的同时，也要追求思想上的东西，就会出现一些对现行的政治体制的挑战的东西。最近又面临奥运会，继续加强紧缩言论空间的举措。”

“There is only one point to these rules, and that is to step up controls over any possible political dissent that might emerge in China,” Shaanxi-based cyberdissident Deng Yongliang said.

“Now that the standard of living is rising for many people, they are beginning to demand more intellectually as well as materially, and such ideological freedom would be a challenge to the current political system,” Deng said.

“We are also about to hold the Olympic Games, and so the authorities will continue to step up controls on freedom of expression.”

目前中国网上视频节目可以说是五花八门，网民自拍的色情，美女，搞笑短片都很容易看到。邓永亮先生说，一些有关民众抗议事件的视频也在网上流传：

It is possible to see video of incidents of social unrest in China, which currently circulates alongside the hard and soft porn, and the silly home-made movies people make to amuse each other.

“因为视频节目比文字的流传更为直接，更能体现中国方方面面的事情。如果这个视频是揭露的政府的腐败、非法隐瞒东西，就更容易直接形象一些，更能引起老百姓的愤怒，所以引起了中共政府的高度紧张。有的拆迁户自焚的这些，网上视频都有啊。成都镇压工人集会示威，还有就是汉源大暴动，网上也有简短的录像。他审查不了，就是事后审查，网民搞出去了，事后多久才发现视频的出现。”

“The communication achieved by video is even more direct than by text reports,” Deng said. “And if that video serves to expose government corruption or illegal activity, it could very easily become symbolic, and ignite the people’s anger.”

“For this reason the Chinese Communist Party is extremely nervous about it. For example, there is even video available online of people setting fire to themselves because they have been evicted from their homes. There was the suppression of the workers’ protests in Chengdu, and the riots in Hanyuan, in Sichuan. There are short video clips of both of these incidents online at the moment. They slip through the net and begin to emerge after the incident has taken place, so it’s hard to detect them.”

“Now the equipment to make such videos is very cheap. You can do it on a mobile phone that only costs a few hundred yuan. They will be able to restrict people from broadcasting themselves to large audiences, but they won’t be able to control video getting out to smaller audiences, and on forums and bulletin boards.”

倡导新闻自由的邓永亮先生认为，政府的控制政策不大可能管住网络：

“拍照的工具，比如司马相宜价格是很便宜了，很多人可以用手机拍，几百块的手机就可以拍录像，最终他控制不了的。他只能阻止一些成规模性的传播，但是小面积传播，比如网友之间的传播，还有小论坛上面的传播，他阻止不了。”

很多中国视频网站规定，民众随意传到网上的视频节目须经网站编辑人员审核，有非法，色情或反动内容的视频不能播放。

以上是自由亚洲电台记者安培的采访报道。

For a long and intense citizen-reported documentary about petitioners (in Chinese), including long interviews with petitioners in the old petitioner village (now demolished) and in the subway, in fact, exactly the sort of video that Deng is talking about:

http://www.56.com/u70/v_MjY0ODA4NDM.html

Rebecca Mackinnon has a recent post about the Great Firewall, Yahoo! and Shi Tao, and corporate responsibility.