Tuesday, March 6, 2007

No more internet cafes will open in China

According to a CNN.com article today, the Chinese government is placing a hold on the opening of new internet cafes in China. There are about 113,000 internet cafes already in China, which are often used solely for online gaming purposes.

The article also mentions the efforts of the government to promote a "healthy online culture" that would block internet users from viewing online material that is considered subversive. I see this effort as becoming highly difficult as the number of internet users in China grows, and is even expected to surpass the U.S. in numbers in the next two years.

It just seems like an inopportune time to ban opening more internet cafes in a country who's tourism rates with likely experience a drastic increase come 2008 with the Olympics in Beijing.

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