China targets ‘virtual’ cash
p2pnet.net news:- China says it aims to “purify the cyber environment” through a crackdown on Net gambling.
And that’ll include curtailing the use of “virtual money,” says Xinhua.
Government departments should, “strictly supervise online game service providers who are not allowed to exchange ‘virtual money’ with real currencies or properties, or use it to launder money,” says the story, singling out Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang as key areas.
“QQ coins” issued by Tencent.com, with 220 million registered users, are the most popular Chinese online credits, says Associated Press, continuing, “Financial experts cited by Chinese media said the growing popularity of ‘QQ coins’ could complicate the government’s ability to control the flow of real currency, and the central bank has issued a warning about the use of virtual money.”
Meanwhile, “The prevalence of online gaming has ruined the online environment and harmed young people’s growth, which runs against the policy of building a harmonious society,” said a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Information Industry and the State Press and Publication Administration.
Beijing is, “struggling to rein in the hot money flushing around of the country, hoping to keep the yuan from appreciating too fast against the dollar,” says Forbes.
“The measures against virtual currencies, announced by Chinaââ¬â¢s state news agency Xinhua in a joint communiqué by 14 government agencies, were said to be aimed at preventing them from wreaking havoc on the real-world economy.”
Chinese people are among the world’s most avid gamblers, although as Xinhua notes, “Gambling was outlawed on the Chinese mainland in 1949 when New China was founded.”
Also See:
Xinhua – China cracks down on Internet gambling , February 26, 2007
Associated Press – China Cracks Down on `virtual Money’, March 7, 2007
Forbes – China Cracks Down On Virtual Currencies, March 6, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the end (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php | | And use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
