VeryCD.com may be closed for not having a license

Image source: Beijing News

Update (2009.12.09 20:19): VeryCD now displays the following message on its front page:

Notice

We are sorry to report a large-scale line fault where VeryCD’s servers are located.

Preliminary estimates have access returning to normal mid-day on December 10.

Please accept another sincere apology for any inconvenience caused.

Yesterday Chinese media reported on the cases of website closures due to copyright infringement. China Daily wrote:

Movie fans were surprised recently when they visited popular websites that offer free entertainment downloads and found them closed by regulators after China ramped up its battle against copyright infringement.

The move left millions of Chinese users disappointed after they checked out their favorite BitTorrent (BT) websites.

BT sites offer peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of data. Last week, many such sites were either gone completely or carrying messages advising that links to downloadable movies and TV shows were unavailable.

BTChina, a popular video sharing website, displayed a notice saying the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) had ordered it to close because it had no license to provide audio and video content.

Today, one of the more popular music, film and TV series sharing sites, VeryCD.com, displayed “Network Timeout” and failed to connect. An article from the entertainment section of The Beijing News today ran an article about VeryCD and its application for a license to share content, the “Information Network Broadcast Audio Visual Programming Permission Certificate” (信息网络传播视听节目许可证), which VeryCD does not currently have. The Beijing News article is translated below:

Mainland site for sharing movies and TV site BT China (BT中国联盟) was closed because it didn’t have a “Information Network Broadcast Audio Visual Programming Permission Certificate.” Yesterday, Huang Yimeng (黄一孟), who is responsible for the very famous mainland website for sharing film and TV programs content, VeryCD.com, said when interviewed by this reporter: “Many thanks for everyone’s support of VeryCD, we also don’t have a license, and are in the process of applying for one with the relevant authorities.” As for the rumor that the website will change its format to a Social Networking Site (SNS) such as Kaixin001, Huang said, “We have been developing the forums for a long time, as well as online games and SNS. This isn’t a measure taken in response to the closure of BT China.”

VeryCD is a famous website for sharing movies and TV series. As it’s a registered company, VeryCD’s influence is far greater than BT China. At the time of going to print, the website has 25,553 movies and 160,000 points of resource for download. When Huang Yimeng was interviewed by this reporter, he already knew that BT China had been shut down. “We haven’t yet received a notification for rectify and reform from SARFT. But we don’t have a license, and are in the process of applying for one.” As for the result of the application and the future direction of the company, Huang said: “It’s inconvenient for me to answer this question. If there is progress, we will put the information on the website.”

Yesterday netizens found that VeryCD were promoting their SNS sections, so the rumor that they were going to become a social networking site kept spreading.

The rumor that VeryCD will close has made the influence on netizens very dramatic. Many netizens heard that it will “close at the end of the month,” and started a frenzy of “final downloading,” hoping to save their favorite movies and series onto their hard disks. The many people downloading effect has made many cold resources hot. One user said in the HD section of a forum that a previously slow download is now three times as fast.

Emule (电驴) is free for Internet users to use and VeryCD is the biggest sharer of Emule resources. From the notice on the VeryCD site, all the contents of the site is managed and provided by users, Emule on VeryCD has accumulated a download rate of 300 million, and everyday there are tens of thousands of users who share their contents through VeryCD, including that of films, music, games, software and other resources.

Update (2009.12.10): ChinaHush translates a National Business Daily article that includes extensive quotes with the webmaster behind BitTorrent@China.