Beijing: Government Blocked iTunes
It may be a case of too little too late, but as the Olympics ended the U.S. Embassy in Beijing criticized China for failing to live up to its pre-Games promise of openness. The criticism came after 8 Americans were arrested and imprisoned without trial for their part in a pro-Tibet demonstration. According to a British newspaper, “The bluntness of the U.S. statement will inevitably take some of the political gloss off the Beijing Olympics which have been widely acknowledged to have been a commercial and sporting triumph, attracting record worldwide TV audiences. Despite this success, the Chinese government has continued to suppress all forms of dissent, blocking all websites it deems seditious, even including Apple’s iTunes music store on the blacklist after it offered a pro-Tibet charity album for download.”
