As a drama fan the last month has been terrible for the spread of shows to watch after China enforced the latest regulation that all overseas shows airing online must go through the same approval process as domestic productions. In China, all shows whether variety or dramatic must go through a two step process to make it on air – a synopsis must be submitted for approval prior to commencement of filming, and the end product must also be submitted for review and approval before it’s allowed to air. Overseas shows that air on television have been required to get SARFT approval first but the same hasn’t been applied to airing online.
Now the two have been aligned and starting in 2015 all overseas shows (US, Korea, Japan, etc.) must submit the completed full show, with subtitles, to SARFT for approval prior to streaming over the Chinese video portals. That is already a high bar but SARFT recently tightened the restriction further and mandates all Chinese video sites cannot have over 30% of its content be overseas shows. Da fuq is this, the pre-Tiananmen proverbial the stone ages? This week came the giant hammer of doom as China just announced all internet users in any capacity must register their real names prior to participating in online activity. O__O I’m officially speechless now.
All K-dramas that have started airing in 2015 have not seen the official light of day in the Chinese video streaming sites, with netizens complaining of the fast crackdown on illegally uploaded episodes. For example, Kill Me Heal Me has been extremely popular despite not being officially licensed in China, but viewers who have watched episodes find the video gone by the next day. Bummer. This confirms that the new regulations also come with demands that the video portals strictly self-monitor overseas content whereas in the past unlicensed shows and dramas only got the videos pulled weeks or months later when the content owners complain.
The new online activity regulations will go into effect on March 1 and is expected to have a huge impact on discussion forums, weibo activity, and comment chatter. Not only do netizens need to register using their real names to get an online account in any Chinese website, they are not allowed to choose usernames from the following 9 banned categories: anything that harms national security, involves national secrets, incites ethnic discrimination or hatred, or harms national unity, or names that promote pornography, gambling, violence, terror, superstition and rumors. Users will also be required to a new term of service agreeing to respect the law, the socialist political system, and social morality and truth, before being allowed to use a given service.
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This all sounds very exhausting, though unsurprising.
woahhhhhhhhhh!! O_O
although there is no one particular dictator that heads china...it is still a communist country, not a democratic country where majority wins.
good thing I don't live there...i'll go crazy without any kdrama!
and by the way...my "real name" does not have numbers included in it :)
That just sucks
Koala, you do realize China is a one-state authoritian regime, right? Who censures all media. How can you be surprised by this? The only interesting question is: will this affect the writing of Korean shows who hope to sell to China?
Er, my undergrad major was IR and I wrote my honors thesis on the effects of the '97 one-state-two-systems proposal on future pan-Chinese political reunifications. I'm pretty sure I know China is a communist state LOL. It's not so simple to take this latest internet lock down in stride when Zhongnanhai has been opening up non-political discourse freedoms for the last 20 years under the auspices of promoting economic growth and welcoming foreign investments. This is a clear sign that the current leadership is prioritizing state control over economic benefits to the country. That's really the issue worth pondering with much greater ramifications than whether Zhang San or Li Si can comment away online under the fake cloud of anonymity like in the past. I'm not surprised by whatever China does, the correct reaction is to be very very concerned about what else is to come.
You handled that very graciously, Koala. :)
"I'm not surprised by whatever China does.."
But you did write: "Da fuq is this, the stone ages? (...) I'm officially speechless now." I take it we agree this is a colloquial expression for being surprised? You may not have *been* surprised, but you did write that you were...
I do agree with your last observation.
Heh, that was me having some punny fun with the ridiculousness. The latest limitations on freedom of speech hence -----> I am speechless now.
Yikes! Aish!
Who in the world picks a username name that contains "national secrets"??? What kind of national secrets are they talking about?
Oh, well...not a problem.
And here I thought my country's censorship laws were bad.
The d-day will only come if fansubbing groups quit their job. When there's a huge demand, there's always a way. I don't have a habit of streaming my videos so I usually download from Chinese subbing group sites and they're still very fast. Subs come out in 5-6 hours after the broadcast in Korea.
Licensed streaming sites only got popular in the recent years but their subs still come from major fansubbing groups (they collaborated together) so honestly, SARFT decision doesn't affect much...
But if the Chinese subbing sites were inside China, they can no longer access the new dramas, right? If I am reading this correctly.
Unless the fansubbers are all over the world.
Hopefully.
it s illegal to upload a video drama, but i dont think it s illegal to upload srt files, at least that what i read from this post.
So find your torrent files, download them, then find srt files, download them, then watch ( just like the old days)
oh my god. This is so ridiculous. How are they going to confirm users REAL name ???