Yolearnchinese.com only available from 11pm to 6am Central European Time
January 26, 2010 – 2:57 pmAnother post totally unrelated to China, but I have to talk about it. One of our politicians in charge of the harmonious German society, Ursula von der Leyen, has proposed a new law to make the internet more safe for minors. This law has not yet been approved, but if it will be approved, then the Chinese internet is an oasis of freedom. Here is what might happen:
Basically I have to rate my website to which age it is appropriate. I can choose between sitewide oder per page rating. Unfortunately it is to much work to make sure, all my articles including all posted comments by all my readers are safe for a certain age group. I’m not an legal expert, so I can’t really rate every piece of text without making mistakes. Bottom line is, I label my whole site suitable for people 18 years and older.
But there is the downside of this. If I label my website for people aged 18, I have to make sure, only people at least 18 years old access my content. Either I ask everyone to send me a copy of their passport and give them accounts, or alternatively, I only make my site only available from 11pm to 6am Central European Time. German internet law sucks! Let’s hope Ursula fails with her bullshit internet censorship.
More information available at Arbeitskreis Zensur (German).
8 Responses to “Yolearnchinese.com only available from 11pm to 6am Central European Time”
Ah, that doesn’t affect me, Slovenia or Taiwan, Ursula von der Leyen has no effect on your site here, hehe. I must say, it’s a stupid proposal. I’d expect something like that from China and not from Germany. How far in your living rooms will your state regulate your life there?
I think they should regulate the banks and the big shots, instead of this nonsense. Life will always be dangerous in a way and the government can’t always protect people at all costs.
You know, in winter, ice is slippery, people can fall and break a leg. Why don’t they ban walking on ice then?
By MKL on Jan 26, 2010
Ursula von der Leyen is well known here. For conservative minds she is a hero, for the liberals she is one of the worst nightmares that happened to Germany in a long time. Overall a very controversial person, but career minded and still young for a politician. I guess we have to suffer her ideas for another two decades.
I still have to close the site during daytime, even for foreign readers, because it is hosted on a German server. I’m not really in the mood to move my site to a server abroad. So much work
By Junjie on Jan 26, 2010
Hmm.. U know that “a copy of your passport” isn’t enough?
IF ur website is NOT suitable for minors u gotta make sure that minors cannot enter ur homepage.
As far as I know the only certification-system that got an approval by German courts is “PostIdent”, and even with this system some courts are not satisfied, considering the fact that kids can get the password of their parents.
All I mentioned is related to “distributing” sexual content, not quite sure about the new stuff Zensursula has on her disturbing mind.
Well.. what about just shut down the whole Internet? Things will still happen but nobody reads and discuss about it online, so it’s not a huge concern anymore, isn’t it?
By H4ns on Jan 27, 2010
Hello H4ns
This time it’s not only about sexual content, it is about anything that could harm a child. Like bad language.
I agree, Germany doesn’t need the internet anymore.
By Junjie on Jan 27, 2010
I think all you’ll need to do is to keep your privacy. You are publishing on a .com which should be out of that jurisdiction. German internet law is one of the reasons why I’m blogging on Wordpress.
By justrecently on Jan 29, 2010
Unfortunately it’s not that easy
The content of this website is on a German server, so it is subject to German law. The part that helps me keep a low profile is, it is in English and the .com domain. I even have an imprint to comply with the law.
By Junjie on Jan 29, 2010
In that case, I’d move onto an American server. If your website is switched off from time to time, it will lose links.
Btw, Ursula von der Leyen is now the federal minister of harmonious industrial relations, but I’m sure her successor in the ministry of censorship will be working just as hard.
By justrecently on Jan 29, 2010
Now in her new position she can introduce censorship as a way to prevent theft of intellectual property.
If things go wrong in a serious way, I will move this site to the US. Until then, just hope for the best
By Junjie on Jan 29, 2010