“The Big Bang Theory” Taken Down from Chinese Video Websites

From NetEase:

Numerous Websites Take Down The Big Bang Theory and Other American TV Shows Due to “Policy Reasons”

Southern Daily – The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, and Many Other American TV Shows Taken Down — Starting from yesterday, multiple American TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife have one after another been taking down numerous video websites, with the webpages taken down showing “due to [government] policy reasons, this video is unable to be viewed”.

Xinhuanet April 27th morning news, starting from yesterday, multiple American TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife have been taken down, with the webpages for the involved video websites including Sohu Video, Youku, and Tencent/QQ Video showing “due to policy reasons, this video is unable to be viewed”.

As it is understood, 4 American TV shows are included in those taken down, and they are The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, NCIS, and The Practice. The most popular of them, The Big Bang Theory, is a Sohu Video exclusive, while The Good Wife is licensed by Sohu Video, Youku, and Tencent/QQ Video.

As early as last month, the State Administration for Radio, Film, and Television [SARFT] had issued a notice concerning the strengthening of auditing and censorship for online dramas, microfilms, and other online audio-visual content, that in addition to the shows produced by websites themselves and domestically produced TV series, the American and British TV shows that the various major websites were competing to purchase rights to would also be audited for censorship.

According to the aforementioned notice, the American and British TV shows purchased by websites must “be audited first before broadcast”, and the shows approved must report the record of the provincial-level SARFT executive department. Organizations/companies who illegally broadcast shall in accordance with the “Internet Audio-Visual Program Service Management Regulations” be given punishments such as warnings, injunctions, or fines by SARFT.

Serious violations shall in accordance with the “Radio and Television Management Regulations” be given punishements such as confiscation of equipment involved in the illegal activities, confiscation of illegal gains, and suspension of licenses. The investors and operators of the organizations/companies who illegally broadcast shall also be given punishments such as warnings, fines, and even prohibitions from investing in or operating internet audio-visual services for 5 years.

(Original title: The Big Bang Theory and Many Other American TV Shows Taken Down From Video Websites, for Policy Reasons)

Comments from NetEase:

zuluoxuan200 [网易江苏省南京市网友]：

Absurd anti-Japanese War dramas, kimchi dramas, Qing Dynasty palace dramas, sparing no effort to keep the masses ignorant.

网易美国网友 ip：24.205.*.*:

People ask me just what is so great about America and I reply: Because neither the rich nor the poor are arbitrarily bullied, and neither the rich nor the poor dare to do whatever they please [bully others].

wangeastplu [网易江苏省南京市网友]：

Everyone knows that in the information age, it is useless to rely on blocking information, but they are still thinking up everything they can to block information, which shows that they have already exhausted their abilities!

c1261466077 [网易广东省广州市网友]：

I suggest they just broadcast Japanese devils being ripped in half with bare hands epics everyday!

此用户已匿名 [网易河南省信阳市网友]：

In the future, they’ll only allow watching Japanese devils being ripped in half with bare hands, and Brainwashing Lianbo!

网易山东省烟台市网友 ip：182.34.*.*:

What content is in The Big Bang Theory? Is it very yellow, very violent? If it isn’t, then why take it down? Learning from North Korea?

网易河北省廊坊市大城县网友 ip：120.7.*.* 2014-04-27 12:49:28 发表

SARFT is a bunch of leftovers of the Cultural Revolution .

时光分享 [网易江西省新余市网友]：

The so-called policy determined by hypocrites and small [vile] people.

网易四川省成都市网友 ip：218.88.*.*:

In 1987, China’s first email marked China’s entry into the Internet Age, and the content of that email was “Across the Great Wall we can reach every corner in the world. (越过长城，走向世界)”. Just how much of a joke that looks today.

此用户已匿名 [网易河南省信阳市网友]：

The ordinary common people use various direct and indirect taxes to raise “SARFT dogs” to bite ourselves?! Can we not raise such dogs?

披着狼皮的羊艹 [网易北京市网友]：

Even if all foreign shows are taken down, I still won’t watch [domestic] brainwashing TV shows and garbage TV shows!

Comments from Sohu:

凱158在搜狐

Are we only allowed to watch various ridiculous TV shows about abusing Little Japan?

Stefanv [搜狐河南省郑州市网友]

Is this telling us to spend all day watching those ridiculous stupefying anti-Japanese retarded TV serials?? Especially that Sichuan Satellite TV [a channel]! Which broadcasts all sorts of ridiculous nonsense. It’s simply “Stupid Cunt” Satellite TV.

沐云爵 [搜狐江苏省南京市网友]

How about banning Korean dramas? It’d be a lot better than banning American shows.

花争发 [搜狐上海市网友]

Naked Butt Always Asshole [the Chinese is a pun on the Chinese name for SARFT], send my regards to your family!

WuClaude [搜狐江苏省苏州市网友] (responding to above)

It should be Naked Butt Swollen Asshole [also a pun].

Summer [搜狐安徽省网友]

Why are government policies so strict lately, that everything is being prohibited/banned?

搜狐新闻客户端网友 [搜狐浙江省宁波市网友]

This country has been ruined by a bunch of beasts/animals [bastards].

Comments from Phoenix Online:

凤凰网新浪微博网友：SnowMan小丑

I thank the government and thank the Party! For truly going through a lot of trouble for the people!

凤凰网新浪微博网友：–半夏蔷薇

The curtains open on all the people retardedly watching Korean serial dramas, Taiwanese serial dramas, and time-travel dramas.

凤凰网新浪微博网友：Miller_L_yu

Head of SARFT, how come China isn’t able to produce TV shows as good as these?

凤凰网新浪微博网友：xvfeng

I request that Korean dramas be killed first before killing American TV shows.

凤凰网新浪微博网友：AUPer

They can’t produce such shows of such high-quality, so they also won’t allow internet video companies to bring them in from abroad at the same time [as they are broadcast abroad], expanding the market share for legally licensed content. This is having the people continue being in the pirated market. I can only turn towards internet download sources to continue following these shows.

凤凰网新浪微博网友：Desperado___58

Even The Big Bang Theory… are you serious? →_→

凤凰网新浪微博网友：人比肥羊瘦

An organization [the Party/government] that acts wholeheartedly for the people and for saving China.

凤凰网腾讯微博网友：走了又来

What did The Big Bang Theory do to you [SARFT]?

Comments from Sina Weibo:

ready飞：

Can you first take down bangzi dramas and the domestic absurd, retarded TV serials?

小糖人哆啦：

North Korea, hello, big China is coming to keep you company.

-JIANGSHANLI-：

Looks like we really are going to be closing off the country from the outside world.

lawer_jun：

Sheldon sometimes mentions China, and does so in ridicule or as a joke. If this were to come from the mouths of politicians, then I think I would not be comfortable hearing it. But this is from the mouth of Sheldon, whose emotional quotient is 0. Americans making fun of you means China is constantly expanding its influence in America. This is the mentality of amusement of Americans, and China instead pettily refuses to be made fun of. May I ask, where is the self-confidence and charisma of China as a large country/major power? I don’t see it. I’m very disappointed.

我的大名被抢注了：

The leadership of SARFT needs to be taken down.

杀鸡的Iris：

Why not ban the stupefying domestic TV serials instead? Fuck!

承蒙道上兄弟错爱叫我一声五爷：

Retarded Korean dramas flow unimpeded, Stupid Cunt Apartment [referring to 《爱情公寓》 (IPartment)] plagiarizes and broadcasts as it pleases, and domestically produced [outlandish] serials are churned out constantly setting new lows, hehe.

xinyuz：

Don’t cry, North Korea, for tonight we are all North Koreans.