China moves to sanction video sites, shut down others

China has cracked down on over 50 video-sharing Web sites for distributing content it feels is pornographic, violent or subversive, by either punishing or shutting down the sites altogether.

The Chinese government had published three lists with sites that had been either found to be operating without a content license, warned, or shut down. One of the most popular video-sharing sites, Tudou.com, was on the list of those warned.

Rules took effect in the communist country at the end of January to place stricter controls on video sites. They called for all new video sites to be state-owned, and and thus cleansed of "subversive" material before it appears online.

Banned material according to the law consists of: content with national secrets, content that sullies the reputation of the country, socially disruptive material, and pornography. "Those who provide Internet video services should insist on serving the people" and socialist principles, the Associated Press reported the new policy as stating.

It is not clear what the penalties were for those that violate the new rules. Tudou did confirm it was penalized, although it would not disclose what the penalty was, or why it was the target of prosecution. The Chinese government remained equally vague.

Altogether, about 25 video sites were shut down, and another 32 penalized as a result of investigations into the industry. The moves seem to reflect a desire by the Communist Party in China to begin regulating videos the same way it regulates television programming.