Apple’s online music store, iTunes, has been blocked in China after more than 40 Olympic athletes downloaded a pro-Tibet album from the site. The disappearance of iTunes behind the Great Firewall of China comes at a time when the Chinese Government had promised free and unfettered internet access for foreign journalists covering the Beijing Olympics. Blocks have been lifted on some sites, but many more remain inaccessible.
Consumers in China began inundating Apple help forums on Monday with complaints that they could not access iTunes. Earlier on the same day, the US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) announced that 46 athletes from North America, Europe and even Beijing had used the site to download Songs for Tibet, which had been offered to them free of charge.
The album, produced by a band called The Art of Peace Foundation and promoted by ICT, featured 20 songs from high-profile artists including Sting, Moby, Damien Rice and Alanis Morissette. It was launched on iTunes on August 5, three days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Athletes were encouraged to play the album on their iPods, in what ICT called “a simple yet powerful symbol of personal freedom”, during their time in Beijing. China.org.cn, a Chinese government Information websited, reported that China’s netizens were “incensed” over the album and were “rallying together to denounce Apple” and ban the singers and producers from the country. Some Chinese were intending to boycott all Apple products, it said.
Wait, isn’t iPod City located in China? On second thought blocking iTunes…maybe not such a bad thing. Apple is investigating.
China should be suffering from loud and scornful international criticism now… but unfortunately, most people are more interested in seeing who scores lucrative contracts with Nike and Kellogs than to see a totalitarian regime shamed for its never ending stream of human rights violations and corruption.
Foreign rock and roll acts may be allowed back to play in China after the Olympics, but they have been banned since March because of what Bjork did there.
1–OFTLO==criticism now? How about 4 years ago when they should NOT have gotten the privilege of putting on the show?
On the other hand, I think most host countries lose money on the deal absent whatever funds they get from TV broadcast rights. Maybe it was another clever BushCo trick to hurt them financially, which of course, didn’t work.
Take out Apple manufacturing from China and move it elsewhere.
The netzens are non-existent. They’re just what the govt stoogies.
#4 mandarin
That would imply Apple has some corporate soul. Nope, it ain’t gunna happen.
#4 – mandarin – Take out Apple manufacturing from China and move it elsewhere.
Yeah, move it to a more democratic country… such as Myanmar.