In a bid to control Internet contents being provided in the country, the Chinese government has shut down hundreds of video sharing websites, including links that allow downloading of films and television series.
In a Chinese newspaper report, popular websites offering video sharing has been ordered to be deleted or closed down by regulators in the past week.
Most of the websites included were popular peer-to-peer file-sharing websites, which has been regarded as one of the most prolific violators of the copyright laws. Those websites that were not considered as “above board” were also closed down.
In a statement, BTChina, one of the most popular video sharing website in the country, said that they have received a notice from the government regulators to close down its operations because it has no license to provide video and audio files through the Internet.
Also, the China’s Administration of Video Film and Television has ordered UUbird.com, a similar type of website, to delete all links that would allow online users to download TV series and films.
The order has given the websites until mid-February to comply with the state laws and regulations or face sanctions.
Since the start of the campaign last November 30, the Chinese government was able to shut down some 414 websites that has been identified of operating without license or containing pornographic and copyrighted contents.
It will be recalled that popular social networking websites has been closed down by the government in a bid to tighten its hold to the information being provided to its people following the outbreak of negative news against the government.
Social platforms likee Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter were the first to go as the government tries to block further news about the unrest in areas like Tibet and Xinjiang, which has been a hot topic on the Internet.