Yesterday we reported that China Unicom had made a large purchase of 5 million iPhone 3GS units, but today the carrier is denying the reports, calling the rumors “definitely not true.”
China Unicom’s spokesman Yi Difei added that “talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time”, but no deal has been made as of yet, as some hurdles have not been cleared.
Apple spokeswoman in beijing Tiffany Yang also added that there was still no official word on the iPhone’s launch in China.
We will keep you updated.
Result for: beijing
Warner Bros. is attempting to curb piracy of its products in China by offering a legal alternative to the country’s 1.3 billion population. In co-operation with a Beijing-based media company called Voole, Warner Bros. will offer new titles from its vaults as digital rentals for a significantly reduced price compared to the street pirates. Bootlegged disks typically go for (GBP)£1 or less on the street.
Warner’s plan is to offer the digital alternative rental service at a price of around 30p - 70p per download (based on the movie in question, one could only assume). The level of pirate products sold in China is in the area of 90%, but Warner and other concerned content companies cannot ignore the fact that China has one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
Of course, the downloads will be protected by DRM, and the users will be able to download them and watch them from their computer or stream them over the Internet. Warner recently announced a similar plan to curb growing piracy in Korea.
Result for: beijing
The Chinese government will be shutting down or “punishing” dozens of video-sharing sites that carry content deemed pornographic, violent or a threat to national security, announced a regulator yesterday. The news comes as China tries to tighten Internet control over the country.
Recently, the Chinese government blocked all access to YouTube after videos of protests in Tibet surfaced on the site.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, which made the announcement, noted that Tudou.com, China’s most popular video-sharing site, was among the sites that was being penalized.
Rules that had taken effect on January 31st ban Chinese sites from posting or distributing online video that “involves national secrets, hurts the reputation of China, disrupts social stability or promotes pornography.” With the upcoming Beijing Olympics, the government is hoping to stop any bad media that might tarnish the event.
