China will close 150,000 Internet cafes

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Jun 28, 2002 5:03 pm

That's the word that's just out, announced today. Opponents are saying that China merely wants to find an excuse to control an "informational crisis." They point out that China legalized only a few Internet cafes originally, with officers in charge who were required to regularly patrol the cafe and check out the contents of each screen--as well as computer logs that contained records of every site each customer visited.

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Fri Jun 28, 2002 5:11 pm

I sure hope not.

I talk with a lot of people from china about RTK, I sure would hate to be not able to.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Sat Jun 29, 2002 1:55 am

Doesn't China already have hundreds if not more, of unlicensed Internet cafes?

I thought that was the reason for the closures all along

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Jun 29, 2002 7:58 am

Originally posted by Tamerlane
Doesn't China already have hundreds if not more, of unlicensed Internet cafes?

I thought that was the reason for the closures all along

The 150,000 is the official estimate for all Internet cafes. Only a small number are official. They sprang up in answer to a need for privaate communications that the "People's Republic" refused to endorse.

I can't think that this will work 100%, though if the usual draconian laws are enacted, it will probably scare most cafes into closing permanently. My guess is that this will simply restrict the Internet to wealthy businessmen, who can afford outrageous bribes to officials, and charge outrageous prices to China's new wealthy, young trendsetters--who would sooner spend the equivalent of a year's earnings for an average family on a pair of imported shoes, than try to help the country's chronic unemployment problem.

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Sat Jun 29, 2002 12:49 pm

@fable:
It seems to me what you have described is common in almost every communist/socialst countries that is on the way to a capitalistic economy. A gap is created between the newly-rich and the poor. Unemployment is also a problem due to the inefficiency of state-run factories, and they just can't compete with foreign products which have better quality and sells at a cheaper price. But we're not here to discuss this specific aspect of China. I've been to China last year, and I've been to various internet cafes. I have been able to browse the Internet with no restrictions. HOwever, the place that I went is not a major metropolis, so the problem is probably less severe. I don't think the Chinese government's policy will be very hard to enforce, just like those on software piracy and bootlegging. I think it is more of a scare-tactic rather than an effective policy. No doubt numerous internet cafes will carry on their business as usual. (through bribery or whatever other methods)