images.jpgPreviously the Chinese government has started to crack down on physical piracy (although they have a long way to go) and now it seems as if they are making some efforts in the digital realm as well. TorrentFreak reports:

Just before the holidays there was an investigation by the authorities into 500 music download sites. The Ministry of Culture said that 237 of those sites (list) were suspected of illegal activities, citing a lack of licensing, failure to register and/or distribution of copyright infringing material.

On Monday the authorities issued a list of music – much of it from Universal, RCA, Warner, EMI and Sony – to be removed from sites by February 28th. The list features music from artists such as Eminem, Christina Alguilera, Kylie Minogue and KT Tunstall but isn’t particularly long. Indeed, many single DMCA takedown requests sent to Google by IFPI are substantially longer. That the government mentions “illegal music products” and “piracy” separately in respect of these products is sure to raise questions of censorship.

But music isn’t the only media being targeted or becoming the subject of self-imposed censorship online. According to a report this morning, China’s three leading YouTube-like video sites – Youku, Tudou, and Ku6 – have been deleting US TV shows and movies from their servers en masse.

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