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China allegedly using iCloud to secretly collect user data
Notorious for the constant surveilling and censorship of its people, the Chinese government appears to be at it again -- this time with Apple iOS users. According to a report from GreatFire.org, a website that focuses on privacy matters, China has secretly started collecting iCloud data through what's known as a "man-in-the-middle" intrusion; basically, the attacker eavesdrops by independently connecting to the user and making it seem as if it's a private connection, when, in fact, it isn't. Chinese Security expert Zhou Shuguang suggests that the network service providers are likely being told by the authorities to use fake trust certificates, making it rather easy for them to conduct these attacks.
Report: Sony to ship 200K PS4s to China by December
Sony plans on bringing 200,000 PS4 systems to China by December, Bloomberg reports. The number comes from a filing on the Chinese (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone website, which reportedly notes that Sony intends on shipping that many consoles to the region on an annual basis. Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Masaki Tsukakoshi confirmed the report with Bloomberg and noted that the actual PS4 production amounts may vary. This follows news of Microsoft's relative success in China, as it reportedly sold 100,000 Xbox One consoles in its introductory week. Microsoft is the first to bring an official foreign console to China in 14 years since the government lifted its console ban in January. China issued a new set of rules for foreign video game and console sales in April, one of which requires that companies work with a China-based partner. Sony paired with the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group in May to bring the PS4 to the country. [Image: Sony]
Report: Microsoft sells 100K Xbox One consoles in China
Microsoft has reportedly sold over 100,000 Xbox One consoles in the system's introductory week in China. The sales figure comes from an interview with Shanghai Media Group Vice President Zhang Dazhong, courtesy of Chinese news site 17173 (translated by Kotaku). Dazhong also noted that Microsoft's Chinese partner BesTV aims to sell one million consoles in the region over the next year. The system launched in late September along with 10 games, and Microsoft said it is preparing an additional 70 games for the region. The Xbox One is the first official foreign console to arrive in China in 14 years following the government's move to lift its longstanding console ban in January. It then began drafting rules that dictates how companies can sell games and game consoles under Shanghai's free trade zone, settling on a new set of policies in April. Game sales in China are restricted based on whether the government determines that products threaten "China's national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity," whether they "instigate racial/ethnic hatred," include gambling-related features, promote drug use, obscenity, violence or violate China's constitution. [Image: Microsoft]
China bans Apple products for government use
China has apparently decided to blacklist Apple products including the iPad and MacBook lines for official use, according to Bloomberg. The report says that the government has instructed its procurement arm not to purchase desktops, tablets and laptops from the company because of those oft-cited "security concerns." It's the latest in a series of attacks on western tech companies in the wake of the Snowden revelations -- with Windows 8, IBM, Apple, Google, Kaspersky, Symantec and the iPhone all getting singled out for criticism. According to Bloomberg's analysts, the move is to ensure that the US doesn't have too much influence in China, and in no way will distract people from China's own sordid history of snooping. Update: China's head of procurement has moved to deny the original report, saying that Apple never applied to be on the list in question.
Xbox One launching in China this September
Microsoft will launch the Xbox One in China this September, following the Chinese government's decision in January to lift its ban on the sale of foreign video game consoles. The ban stood for 14 years, and with its dismissal China crafted new rules to regulate console and game distribution. Among those rules is the requirement for foreign companies to work with local organizations to produce consoles within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, which Microsoft can fulfill thanks to its partnership with Chinese media company BesTV. The Xbox One manufacturer teamed up with BesTV in September 2013 to create E-Home Entertainment. Microsoft holds a 49 percent stake in E-Home and BesTV holds 51 percent, both combining to invest $237 million. E-Home Entertainment plans to establish an "innovation program" that will foster Chinese development on Xbox One. Microsoft launched the Xbox One in 13 regions in November and announced plans last month to bring the system to 26 more markets in September (with China now making that 27). [Image: Microsoft]
China to restrict game sales based on content like gambling, violence
Since China temporarily lifted its ban on foreign video game consoles in January, it was a matter of time before the government offered new rules to regulate console and game distribution. According to a Shanghai government release translated by Games in Asia, those rules will dictate the kind of content that won't be allowed to be sold in the country, such gambiling-related game features. Additionally, anything deemed threatening to "China's national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity" and content that "instigates racial/ethnic hatred" won't be distributable in the country. Games also may not promote "obscenity, drug use, violence or gambling," as well as cults and superstitions. Approved games cannot violate China's constitution, nor can they harm its culture, traditions and public ethics. The policies state that foreign companies must work with a local company to produce consoles within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, such as Sony's PlayStation 4 or Microsoft's Xbox One, the latter of which arrived in 26 more regions just last month. Plus, games in China must go through an approval process with Shanghai's culture department, which will take "no longer than 20 days." This applies to game updates with new content, such as DLC, even if the game itself was already approved. Lastly, all console games will be required to have a simplified Chinese version, so publishers won't be able to simply re-sell Hong Kong and Taiwan versions of their games. [Image: Microsoft]
China drafting new rules for consoles, disallows products 'hostile to China'
Roughly one week after China temporarily lifted its ban on foreign-made video game consoles, the government is looking to draft new rules for regulation, Bloomberg reported. Among the principles that govern the distribution of game consoles under the rules of the free trade zone, head of China's Ministry of Culture Cai Wu said "things that are hostile to China, or not in conformity with the outlook of China's government, won't be allowed." "We want to open the window a crack to get some fresh air, but we still need a screen to block the flies and mosquitoes," Wu added. Whether that indicates further regulation in China on the distribution of games based on their content is unknown. China started its plans last year to revoke the console ban, which began in 2000. Following the ban's temporary suspension last week, the stock prices for both Sony and Nintendo saw small increases.
Nintendo, Sony stock strengthens following suspension of Chinese console ban
After China opted to temporarily lift its ban on foreign-made video game consoles earlier this week, both Nintendo and Sony saw small bumps in their respective stock prices. As of this writing, Nintendo shares are trading at $18.66, whereas Sony is trading at $18.25. By comparison, Nintendo closed Monday at $17.01 and Sony closed at $17.30. Nintendo's shares lifted to 15,850 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday, an 11 percent increase, then closed Thursday at 15,420 yen. Sony closed at 1,894 yen Thursday, up from Monday's 1,802 yen. Nintendo's increase is the highest since it traded at 16,430 yen in July 2011, at which point Nintendo dropped the price of the 3DS from $250 to $170, resulting in a stock plummet the company is still recovering from. To temper the excitement, both Nintendo and Sony's movements aren't enormous compared to its recent history. Additionally, both company's consoles were available in China as grey market imports, so the suspension of the console ban in the country just makes access to game systems that much easier. As Gamasutra points out though, should Sony or Nintendo begin manufacturing systems in the free trade zone, it must all be inspected by Chinese authorities before the consoles can be legally sold in the country, which might be enough time for the government to resume the console ban altogether.
China temporarily lifts ban on foreign consoles
China is allowing foreign firms to make game consoles in Shanghai's free trade zone and then sell them in the country, after the government temporarily suspended its 14-year-ban on foreign console sales. Both the BBC and Reuters report that the Chinese government issued a statement on Monday, noting it didn't say how long the suspension will last. China enacted the console ban in 2000, citing adverse effects on children and young people, but the government began laying out plans last year to revoke it. Although it's temporary, the lifting of the ban opens up a huge market for the platform holders to be directly involved in; before the ban, consoles were generally acquired in China as grey market imports, with a third party unaffiliated with the manufacturer selling them. As GI.biz notes, China's gaming market is thriving. 2013 saw tracked industry revenues of $13.75 billion in the country, with just $10 million generated by console game sales.
Chinese government forbids MMO television series
Chances are that you weren't holding out hope that BBC One was suddenly going to announce Chuck Norris: Warcraft Ranger or that Syfy was going to sign EVE Online to a three-season deal. TV shows based on MMORPGs don't happen -- at least not yet -- but if there is any place that you could imagine one being made, it would probably be in China. Unfortunately, it looks like this hypothetical daydream is off the table for the time being, as the government ruled that no TV show can be made from an MMO property. What gives, China? Why no love for the MMO? This strange restriction is one of several new guidelines announced over the weekend by the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. Among the guidelines is the rule that broadcast TV can't be based on online games. The only current show on Chinese TV related to MMO is Rift in the Sky (which is based on the game Sword of the Yellow Emperor). If you consider how popular MMOs are in the country, it seems odd that the government feels that they're unworthy of appearing on air.
Tim Cook meets Chinese Vice Premier in Beijing, talks IP law, worker rights
Tim Cook's visit to China this week marks his first as Apple's CEO, but what originally appeared to be a casual jaunt to Beijing with possible carrier meetings on the agenda, has turned out to be a carefully orchestrated visit, including appointments with top government officials to talk economic development and intellectual property rights. Xinhua, the country's official press agency (and therefore not the most objective of sources), reported that Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang stated that the country will "strengthen intellectual property rights protection" and "pay more attention to caring for workers." Typical of state-sponsored releases, the report failed to expand on either statement, but even if nothing comes of this particular meeting, Keqiang is in line to take over as Premier next year, making him a solid addition to Cook's rolodex. There's a Chinese-language video of the encounter waiting just past the break.
China tightens grip on VPN access amid pro-democracy protests, Gmail users also affected
If you've been struggling to get your dose of Facebook or Twitter in China recently, then you're probably one of the many Internet users who've had their VPN access -- either free or paid for -- blocked over the last two weeks or so. That's right, the notorious Great Firewall of China is still alive and well, and leaving proxy servers aside, VPN is pretty much the only way for keen netizens to access websites that are deemed too sensitive for their eyes; or to "leap over the wall," as they say. Alas, the recent pro-democracy protests didn't exactly do these guys any favor -- for one, their organizers used Twitter along with an overseas human rights website to gather protesters, and with the National People's Congress meetings that were about to take place (and wrapped up last night), it was no surprise that the government went tough on this little bypassing trick. To make matters worse, PC World is reporting that Gmail users are also affected by slow or limited access, despite the service previously being free from China's blacklist. We reached out to a handful of major VPN service providers, and they all confirmed a significant increase in the amount of blockage -- possibly by having their servers' PPTP IP addresses blocked -- over the last two weeks. One company even spotted the Chinese government subscribing to its paid service, only to work its way into the network to locate the company's PPTP server list, and then put them behind the firewall. Fortunately for some, the better-off companies had backup servers to rapidly resolve the problem, whereas the cheaper and free services were unable to dodge the bullet. This just goes to show that sometimes you get what you pay for. That said, with practically unlimited human hacking power at its disposal, it doesn't take much for the firewall to shut down everything heading its way. For the sake of our friends and expats there, let's just hope that the government will take things down a notch as soon as the storm calms.
The Lawbringer: WoW in China
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Running parallel to the games we love and enjoy is a world full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play? We've all heard about the now-infamous request for Blizzard and NetEase to remove all forms of skeletons and other material from the Chinese release of Wrath of the Lich King, which finally was released in China on Aug. 31, 2010. What on earth is going on with Blizzard, NetEase, China and all that jazz? This week, The Lawbringer looks at the general video game climate in China, talks a little bit about how things are different for WoW players in China, and helps clarify some of the craziness going on about that whole skeleton debacle.
China's Ministry of Culture to introduce stricter gaming regulations
The Chinese Ministry of Culture is tightening gaming restrictions in what they say is an effort to protect minors from undesirable content in gaming. "Unwholesome" and "inappropriate" were the words used, and games targeting minors will be required to avoid such content beginning August 1st. Pornography, cults, superstitions, gambling and violence were some of the themes specifically forbidden. In addition, these game companies will be required to "develop techniques that would limit the gaming time of minors in order to prevent addiction." No specifics on what types of techniques will be required were given. Finally, minors will be restricted with regards to online transactions using virtual currency. Check out the full story at Xinhua Net.
China backtracks, makes Green Dam 'optional'
China's efforts to preload the Green Dam censorware on all PCs in the country have been going pretty poorly so far, with accusations of software piracy and manufacturer displeasure causing delays. Now the government is backing down from that stance, stating that the original regulation wasn't "expressed clearly, and gave everyone the impression that [Green Dam] was mandatory." For home computers, that means the internet filtering software will likely continue to be bundled as an optional (and inactive) extra -- something Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Sony have been doing since early July -- but if you're at school, an internet cafe or some other public access point, expect to see Green Dam running, alive and well. Censorship is dead, long live censorship. [Via CNET]
China's gold farming ban not really a ban
The other day, we reported on China's recent ban on trading real currency for virtual goods, and it was hailed as the end of gold selling in the MMO world. Unfortunately, it may not actually play out that way. While this would put a stop to some gold selling, it won't stop all of it thanks to a convenient little loophole.That loophole is the fact that their law has no jurisdiction over foreign transactions. While it absolutely can put a stop to these transactions on Chinese soil using Chinese servers and Chinese currency, Chinese goldfarmers can still happily (well, probably not happily) scrounge up gold on American realms and sell it to American players. Most likely, this new law won't have an impact on the gold selling industry whatsoever. The people being impacted are those crafting their games on a model of microtransactions rather than a subscription model. Developers, not gold farmers, will be harmed by this. A game like Free Realms is no longer a feasible option in China.
Chinese release of Wrath of the Lich King still delayed
Around early February, it was reported that Wrath of the Lich King's Chinese release had been delayed. It was suspected that the launch was postponed until after the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) which occurred in the first week of March, but things are starting to look a little bleak.There are rumors abounds that Blizzard and The9 are having something of a falling out, but it's being reported that things are going much more poorly on The9's end. Specifically, they've hit some trouble with the censorship board. You might recall that China has some very, very strict rules when it comes to things like video games and movies. Many of the models in the base World of Warcraft game needed to be altered to conform to these rules, such as the exposed bones on the Forsaken and the bones left behind when a player dies.
Chinese government says no to Wrath of the Lich King
Seriously, who doesn't like skeletons? Well, the Chinese government, as it's citing "skeleton characters" and a "city raid" as two primary reasons for the million World of Warcraft players in China still not receiving Blizzard's latest expansion. JLM Pacific Epoch reports the Chinese government "has rejected two applications by the second expansion for World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King since China's Spring Festival (January 25 - February 1)." Considering Blizzard has removed "skeleton characters" from WoW in the past and the supposedly gold farmer-free million plus player count for WoW in China, we're willing to bet Blizzard (and its licensing partner in China, The9) will find a way to release Wrath of the Lich King yet.But seriously China, what's your deal with skeletons?[Via Massively]
China to impose real-name registration for online games
The Chinese government takes games seriously. More specifically, they view games as something that must be tightly regulated. Given how many young people in China spend hours every day in Internet cafes, the government has a system in place that -- they claim -- limits the amount of time a given person can play online games. However, kids in China have easily found ways to game this system, according to IncGamers.The Chinese Government's next step is to implement a real name registration system in 2009, which would link game accounts with a given person's ID number. The concept seems to be less about taking anonymity away from gamers than it is about preventing them from finding ways of racking up ludicrous amounts of play time, something that the Chinese government believes is a growing problem that must be curbed.
The Queue: Pandamonium
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.Welcome! You probably noticed I skipped yesterday. Why? Because I felt like it. Yeah, how do you like them apples? I sure showed you! You got owned, y'all.Uh, anyway. Alexran asked... Why exactly did Blizzard skip out on the Pandaren as a playable race? I remember hearing something about racism or that the Chinese government would invade Blizzard's HQ. Whats the deal?
