Rumor: Tudou Punished by SARFT

Tech.163.com, 3/06/08

Sources say that the direct cause of the breakdown between Tudou and CCTV.com is the Shutdown Order Regarding Punishment of Tudou for Illegal Online Video Broadcasting issued by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) to Shanghai broadcasting authorities on February 24.

The order states that Tudou is suspected of transmitting pornographic and other clearly proscribed content, and of continuing to be lax in its monitoring of content following the promulgation of SARFT's new regulations on online broadcasting. Tudou was ordered to shut down for an unlimited duration to reorganize its content. On February 26, word of the order, which had circulated throughout all levels of the broadcasting authorities, reached CCTV. An inside source revealed that Wang Wenbin, head of CCTV.com, saw the letter on that day - one day before the CCTV.com, MySpace China, and Tudou press conference. The next day Tudou CEO Wang Wei's speech was dropped from the press conference, and media at the press conference were told not to report this.

When contacted, Tudou's public relations department said that they had not received a Shutdown Order targeted at the company.

Editor's note: In a telephone interview with Marbridge, relevant authorities confirmed that such an injunction had been issued against Tudou. However, no confirmation was given concerning the details outlined in the article above. A check of Tudou's site (www.tudou.com) as of the close of business today found it still functioning normally.

For additional background on this topic, please see:

"Tudou, CCTV Cooperation Aggravates Olympic Committee", MD 3/05/08

"Rumor: Tudou Cooperation with CCTV Cancelled", MD 3/03/08

"CCTV.com Denies Alliance with Tudou", MD 3/03/08

Keywords: penalty regulation Shutdown Order Regarding Punishment of Tudou for Illegal Online Video Broadcasting pornography CCTV CCTV.com Internet MySpace online video SARFT Tudou Wang Wei