Apple: censorship comes from China. Closed iBook Store and iTunes Movie Store

No preferential treatment for Apple, like other western companies, is to deal with the regulation recently introduced by the Chinese authorities to filter the creative content published online. The first concrete result of the new regulations drawn up by the Administration of the State Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has resulted in the closure of the iBook Store and dell'Itunes Movie Store in the Chinese market. No books and movies, until further notice, despite the statement by the spokesman of the House of Cupertino released to The Wall Street Journal that hints at the future possibility of reactivation, without considering the merits of the timing:

We hope to make it available again books and movies for our customers in China as soon as possible

Apple, obtaining a positive opinion of the Chinese authorities, had activated in September of last year, the official store for distribution of e-books and movies for users who use an iDevice. The address change is linked to the Regulation entered into force in China on 10 March it attaches to Chinese control authorities powers to "creative work published online", a very broad concept, in which converge not only e-book and video, but also audio, games and images.

The Regulation replaced the previous legislation dating back to 2001 and adopted after China's entry into the World Trade Organization. The new regulation provides, first, the need to apply for approval to the Chinese authorities to publish online content mentioned above and the legitimate monitoring of online publishers carried out by the authorities.

In the opinion communicated by The Wall Street Journal by Daniel H Rosen, Rhodium Group, a market analysis company specializing in the dynamics of the Chinese economy, the decision to block the content of the Apple store could not be determined by a simple procedural defect or by failure to follow procedures required by regulation to publish online content, but it would be due to substantial reasons.

The ultimate goal would be to apply a form of censorship of online content and, simultaneously, protect and promote local businesses by slowing down or stopping altogether the activities of foreign companies. An assessment that, if correct, would provide further negative effects generated by the house of Cupertino: think of the Apple Pay service that the company has recently started in China in collaboration with Union Pay. A suspicion towards not only Apple, of course, but to all foreign companies, can potentially cause damage to the Chinese economy in the long run, adds the Rhodium Group analyst.