Skype blocked in China: users go underground

Over at Global Voices, Chinese blogger Frank Dai has a detailed post on how Chinese bloggers are reacting to the Chinese government's blockage of Skype. 

Some people who defy the block are being punished by losing their internet access:

Virushuo cited a story of a Shenzhen Skype user surnamed Wang, who reported that his internet access was down and some ports were blocked. He consulted with the personnel at China Telecom, who replied that he had been added to a black list because he used Skype-Out and required him to guarantee not to use it any more. They also warned that next time he would be fined for 3000 Yuan, about 370 US Dollars.

Most Chinese use the Chinese version of Skype, which is blocked. According to Frank, the international version is not blocked, but is hard to get in China now because it's no longer possible to download directly from the Skype site. So bloggers are emailing around information about how to access it. Frank concludes with a quote from one defiant Chinese blogger: “Skype has been blocked in China but it won’t disappear.”

Comments

[Bruce]

Your definitely right on the money as regards the "Skype".Have 4 nice folks from China on my contact list so far and more often than not,in the middle of a chat,I'll get just a row of squares,comma's,more squares.I personally,don't give a flame whether the US likes China or not.It's okay for the US to go and do business there but just let the Chinese attempt to buy a US company and all hell breaks loose on the Hill.No one has the right to tell another country how they will run that country.The US would have fits were it the other way round.Yahoo and Msn be jiggered,thankful for Skype.