It is a sad day for Internet companies in China that run online video sharing websites. In an effort to censor video content, China has imposed a new rule that allows only state owned companies to broadcast online video.

That means if Google is streaming YouTube video via servers located inside China, they may face issues running YouTube inside the “great firewall.”

• How to Record Mobile Phone and Landline Telephone Calls

If you are to access YouTube in China now, you’ll see the message - “The server at www.youtube.com is taking too long to respond” - this is a  typical response when someone in China attempts to open a website that has been blocked. Like BBC and Wikipedia, YouTube is also banned in China now.

The only good news is that Chinese authorities have unblocked access to Blogger (blogspot) and Flickr photo sharing service. This was revealed to PCA by the blogger behind Sex and Shanghai, a teacher who writes about sex, prostitution and Chinese women in Shanghai.

PCA says that China regularly blocks access to websites that it finds objectionable, including those dealing with politically sensitive subjects such as the Falun Gong religious cult and independence for Taiwan and Tibet, along with some pornographic sites. Link.

• Any Google YouTube Video Servers Located inside China ?