YouTube blocked in China; Flickr, Blogspot restored

China watchers, get your scorecards out: Google's YouTube is blocked, Wikipedia is still blocked, but, for the moment, Google blog site Blogspot.com is available and some pictures from Yahoo's Flickr photos can once again be viewed.

China-based users accessing YouTube since Wednesday afternoon began receiving the dreaded "The server at www.youtube.com is taking too long to respond," the typical response when a user attempts to view a site that has been blocked.

Google's blog site, Blogspot, is available after being blocked in June. An unblocking of the site last year led to the availability of a Shanghai-based foreign blogger known as Chinabounder, whose blog recounted the author's sexual exploits with Chinese women while working as an English teacher. The posts ultimately led to an unsuccessful hunt for the author and a temporary closing of the blog. Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment on YouTube's block and Blogspot's availability.

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China watchers, get your scorecards out: Google's YouTube is blocked, Wikipedia is still blocked, but, for the moment, Google blog site Blogspot.com is available and some pictures from Yahoo's Flickr photos can once again be viewed.

China-based users accessing YouTube since Wednesday afternoon began receiving the dreaded "The server at www.youtube.com is taking too long to respond," the typical response when a user attempts to view a site that has been blocked.

Google's blog site, Blogspot, is available after being blocked in June. An unblocking of the site last year led to the availability of a Shanghai-based foreign blogger known as Chinabounder, whose blog recounted the author's sexual exploits with Chinese women while working as an English teacher. The posts ultimately led to an unsuccessful hunt for the author and a temporary closing of the blog. Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment on YouTube's block and Blogspot's availability.

Photo site Flickr is again displaying most of its photos, after its pictures, but not the site itself, were blocked in June. The Flickr photo block was the most obvious indicator that China's blocking technology goes beyond simple domain restrictions, but could target sub-domains. Even now, some Flickr images remain blocked while others display. For example, searching for the term "Beijing" from a China-based computer displays the larger photos on the left, but the avatars of users do not load.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.