Good news on Olympic web

[Guy Clapperton]

For once someone has done the right thing. You might remember my last post was a disappointed rant against China for restricting access to the Internet for journalists covering the Olympics.

I can't speak for the US but in the UK it got as far as our National news bulletins.

Well, the move has been overturned. It's not good enough for my liking yet; the resident people in China still can't get to whichever sites they please even if the journalists there for a few weeks can.

But it's a start, and it's the removal of one of the blocks that country had imposed. It's unlikely to go any further but hey, I've already been proven wrong on this once.

[happygeek]

Not quite 'free Internet access' or 'unrestricted' though, even for the media.

The report that you referenced says, towards the bottom and quoting the IOC press commission spokesman:

"There will be sites blocked that have to do with pornography or where in the opinion of the national government are sites which are subversive or against national interest"

The important bits being 'in the opinion of the national government' and 'which are subversive or against national interest' which, I suspect, means that nothing will have changed much at all - other than there being reports in some parts of the media saying that everything is coming up Chinese roses now...

[GuyClapperton]

That's fair comment - many thanks.