Chinese Web hosts are doing some 'cleaning' for the gov't

You know the first line from the awesome Beatles song, Ticket to Ride? “I think I’m gonna be sad, I think it’s today, yeah…”

I thought of that today when I went to one of my favorite bookmarked sites (sort of) and it was basically shut down for business. Yes Great Fire Wall of China finally succumbed. I emailed the gang to find out what was going on but I’ve yet to get a reply.

So what did I like about this site? It basically had a great test tool to let you know if people in China can see your site or if it's blocked. I found other tools such as just-ping.com but I like like the corny-handled GFWOC. It's a simply-designed, informative, non-profit site that acted as a watchdog "to help keep censorship transparent." But as they announced, the "ever stricter measures of censorship (that) China imposes on the Internet" has forced them to take the tool offline.

Upon further investigation, I found some relevant news from a Bloomberg story: China Shuts 10,000 Unregistered Web Sites, Piper Jaffray Says.

As you may know, China requires that each new website get government approval before opening. So the state essentially licenses any new website and rejects those that don't meet the code. That would mean porn, gaming, anti-government, or probably anything that reeks of fun. Web hosts and ISPs are being told to orchestrate the shut down of unregistered sites.

So much for the Internet as a tool for democratic change and the good will of the Games last year. What a load of, um, hooey that was. I hope the Web hosts are getting a slice of those license revenues in some shape or form.