From Variety:

China’s powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and TV has tightened its grip on the biz by ordering all online content providers to apply for a license before broadcasting material on the Internet. The new rules are a blow to foreign producers trying to break into the potentially lucrative but heavily regulated Chinese market because it effectively means that only state-approved TV stations and cinemas will be able to import content for webcasting.

This move by the government is in line with earlier actions taken to tighten media control in preparation for the 60th anniversary of the revolution that gave power to the Communist Party along with the 20th anniversary of the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square. during pro-democracy demonstrations.  The goal of course is to silence any kind of public dissent and to limit what people in China have access to.   And this is of course quite disappointing.

takepart to support an open internet here in the US with the Open Internet Coalition and also takepart to read about Jia Zhangke, a Chinese director that’s doing his part to document the current rapid change happening in the country - or just click on one of the links below:

• Still Life, Images of a Changing China
• Jia Zhangke Tackles History, Memory and Workers
• A World of Good and Jia Zhangke : Videos of the Day
• NPR Tackles Jia Zhangke’s China
• Jia Zhangke’s “The World” : Olympic Film Recommendation CHINA
• Film 24/7 at Cannes Film Festival : Jia Zhangke’s 24 City
• Black Breakfast : Stories on Human Rights
• 24 City : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Life That is Anything But Still : Top 10 Movies of 2008