In the U.S., China's control of the Internet -- and the role of American companies in helping the Chinese government censor it -- is once again a hot-button issue. Following the news that Microsoft (MSFT), at Beijing's request, axed the writings of a Chinese blogger, critics are up in arms.
Congressional hearings are scheduled for next month, with lawmakers from both parties likely to denounce America's high-tech heavies for playing by Chinese rules and limiting access to topics like democratic reforms or Taiwanese independence deemed threatening by Beijing.
Gary Wang doesn't quite see what all the fuss is about. He's the founder of Toodou, a Shanghai startup that lets Chinese post podcasts and video blogs. While free-speech advocates in the U.S. attack Microsoft, Yahoo! (YHOO), Google (GOOG), and others, Wang says the situation doesn't appear nearly so grim at ground zero of the censorship battle.
Limits on expression are "getting more and more relaxed," he says. "The trend is becoming more open, more tolerant."
KEEPING TABS. Wang and other entrepreneurs are at the forefront of a new Net wave that will test just how tolerant China's Internet rulers really are. The Chinese have had much success in controlling the first generation of the Internet, where content has come largely from organized entities such as newspapers that are relatively easy to monitor.
But these days, more and more content is being generated by users, both inside and outside China. And the medium is shifting from simple text to audio and video, which are much harder to keep tabs on.
By some accounts, the government has little reason to worry. Why? Because for now, many of the players getting into the business do much of the monitoring themselves. Podlook, a startup that offers a directory of podcasts and video blogs, tries to make sure it doesn't cross the line by posting links to audio or video that could anger the government. "First we check the source," says Jack Gu, Podlook's founder. "In China, there is a firewall. If the site cannot pass the firewall, we will not connect to it."
TOO MUCH SKIN. And local sites generally regulate their content. At Toodou (the name means "potato" in Mandarin), about a dozen people -- some of them Toodou employees and others podcasting enthusiasts who volunteer their time -- watch or listen to everything in advance. "They want to help us keep our Web site clean and make sure we don't get shut down," Wang says.
So far, most of the questions are not about political topics but about sex -- whether a video shows too much skin, for instance. Censorship "is one of the minor things we worry about," says Wang, who recently received backing from Boston-based International Data Group. "There are tons of other things we will be faced with if we scale up."
At the top of the list will be competition. Blogging has caught on quickly in China, and podcasting and video blogging may also grow fast as well-established dot-coms get into the business. For instance, Nasdaq-listed Sina.com, one of China's most popular portals, has started offering video clips online. Charles Chao, Sina's president, says the company will add podcasts to its blogging service "very soon."
TAKE OFF. The arrival of the likes of Sina will add to the pressure on newcomers such as Toodou and Podlook. Both must develop viable business models. Wang says he aims to fund his service with advertising. But Sina's Chao estimates online advertising in 2004 amounted to just $300 million -- or roughly 2% of China's $15 billion ad market.
That could grow quickly, of course. The podcasting entrepreneurs hope that the launch of 3G mobile services in China -- likely in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- will help give the industry the jolt they need. More than 110 million Chinese access the Internet through PCs, but the country has nearly four times that many cell phone users.
Once 3G is launched, making it easy to download video and audio from the Internet, the podcasting companies could take off. Or so Gu hopes. Accessing podcasts and videos via cell phones "will be one of the killer applications" for 3G in China, he says.
And for now, at least, the companies gearing up to profit from that appear plenty willing to help Beijing maintain its control of China's cyberspace.
Einhorn is a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Hong Kong bureau
Laptop Screens
Find notebook replacement screens for your mobile and wireless laptop. We carry high resolution LCD screens for all brands including, Apple, Compaq, Dell, IBM, HP, Sony, Gateway, Toshiba and many more.
Printer-Friendly Version