China Hijacks Popular BitTorrent Sites 174
frogger writes "China is not new to censoring the Internet, but up until now, BitTorrent sites have never been blocked. Recently, however, several reports came in from China indicating that popular BitTorrent sites such as Mininova, isoHunt and The Pirate Bay had been hijacked. The sites became inaccessible, instead redirecting to the leading Chinese search engine Baidu."
Re:Hijacked? (Score:3, Interesting)
DRTFA, but I'm guessing that they are doing this at the DNS level. So yeah, they're not getting the use of their domain name within China back unless the PRC says so. If that is the case, I would call that a hijack.
Re:This is all Barack Obama's doin'! (Score:1, Interesting)
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but anyway...
Surely even the most dim-witted super-conservative would realise that even under Obama, USA is still the most conservative nation outside of the middle east and Austria. Therefore, calling Obama socialist (as a pejorative) is calling the rest of the world socialists (or worse). Given the vast number of western countries that are "socialist" and have been for some time, (and are still going strong sans economic crisis) the next logical conclusion is "Well, maybe "socialism" works?" (not that what Obama is advocating is actual socialism by any accepted definition of the word).
Sorry for the offtopic.
Re:Censorship? (Score:3, Interesting)
Since when has the U.S. directed thepiratebay.org (or suprnova, or mininova, or demonoid, etc.) to google.com?
They send you to jail instead?
Re:Censorship? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:4, Interesting)
Just wondering, does Baidu have government connections?
All Chinese companies have government connections. Well, they do if they want to have the slightest chance of being successful. That's what operating in a fascist-capitalist state means.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hijacked is such a strong word... (Score:1, Interesting)
... but I think corruption, hostility, and theft are stronger words. I've heard time and time again that it's in "Chinese culture to copy" and that copyright and patent law is foreign to not only the country, but their ethics.
While we certainly don't lead a prime example of IP law, I believe China is simply trying to cheat their way to becoming a super power. When their actions do not coincide with what they claim, it is clear they cannot and SHOULD NOT be trusted.
If it's in Chinese Culture to copy, why take down BitTorrent websites? If this was a disciplinary action, how can we trust them when attempting to visit the blocked websites leads to a Chinese company? This is just another play at "cheating the system." It isn't a perfect system by any means, but it is the one the Western world has established and all successful countries adhere to.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hahahahahahaha
China is communist in nothing but name. You really need to go there and check it out. China is a place for the rich, and the business men. The peasants have barely any rights at all, although this is changing, albiet, slowly.
You can see, from one of China's own newspapers, that social welfare only meets 5% of demand [peopledaily.com.cn]. And even that is probably pushing it.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:3, Interesting)
If China isn't capitalistic, no place on earth is. Money is everything in China, you can bribe and do almost anything things with money.
For example, with money, you can dig up all the earth around a household you don't like, force people to work in hazard environments, dump toxic waste to your neighbour, and have people cut off their arms and legs, etc... just because you have money!
Pure capitalism to its finest.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:4, Interesting)
You haven't really answered the question. Technically every successful business in the US has "government connections" too. You can't even start a small business without paying a bunch of fees and buying a bunch of permits.
You're being pedantic. I took the GP to mean: does this major Chinese corporation have government contacts that demonstrate blatant favoratism? The answer (as with most Chinese businesses relative to foreign competition) is "yes".
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:2, Interesting)
I have gone there and have friends there. you and your co-poster are mistaking corruption for capitalism.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't think that fits any reasonable definition of capitalism, unless there's actually a market in the amputation of other people's arms and legs. Capitalism is an economic system. That's just corruption.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's much easier that way. Certainly the NSA has been known to monitor communications between Airbus and its customers in order to give Boeing a competitive advantage; a $6bn contract with the Saudis was lost when American spies found out about some backhanders Airbus had been paying to officials there. They've also been known to forward technical details of European inventions to American firms in order to get the patent first. There's quite a history [europa.eu] of Americans using state spying agencies for industrial espionage, and so it's natural that they assume that everybody else is doing the same to them.
Re:So, what have they found? (Score:3, Interesting)
I knew US-Americans have an irrational hate for the French, but this really takes the cake...
Wow, ignorant of Americans much? I could almost mistake your comment as some kind of irrational, or at least uninformed, dislike of Americans. But I'm pretty sure you're just talking out of your hat, so I don't need to take it the wrong way.
I would recommend that you do a little research on the history of military/industrial espionage between the United States and France. It's actually very interesting, and after spending some time informing yourself, you might find the GP's comment less xenophobic. France and the U.S. go 'way back, and neither country has ever been above a little friendly spying.
Oddly, most Americans don't really hate people from other countries. We joke about them (just as they make jokes about us) but some people (like you, I guess) mistake that for "irrational hate." In any event, most of our hatred is directed at ourselves. We don't have enough to spare for the rest of you, sorry. You'll have to go elsewhere.