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Censorship Government News

China Continues to Shut Down Video Sites 158

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the governments-the-same-the-world-over dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "It's not just YouTube that's blocked in China. After the unrest in Tibet, at least 25 video sharing sites have been shut down and others have been penalized. While the Chinese government is not admitting that violence in Tibet had anything to do with it, they do have a sudden interest in strictly enforcing licensing restrictions that require video sharing websites to register with the government. Among other things, Chinese video sharing sites must promise not to show videos that inspire fear, contain pornography, or endanger national security."
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China Continues to Shut Down Video Sites More

China Continues to Shut Down Video Sites

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  • National Security? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by calebt3 ( 1098475 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @10:38PM (#22826672)
    I haven't seen many Youtube videos that endanger the US's national security...

    • It's not YouTube, but... (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I seem to remember someone claiming that the Abu Gharib photos endangered US National Security...
    • you haven't seen the one of my 17 pound homemade smoke bomb nuking my backyard then, have you? lol.
      http://youtube.com/watch?v=jMITFo66qWg [youtube.com]
      You look at that fireball and tell me that's not a threat to national security hehehe.
      But don't worry everyone, the Chinese can still see a shortened version of that vid on ehow.com lol. I don't believe they blocked that site yet.
    • I don't know about you, but the Star Wars kid made me pretty insecure...

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This is rich - a bunch of politically correct Slashdotters complaining about China censoring opposing points of view... When all along, anybody who dares to come on here and try to make simple truths known about how every white country on Earth is being invaded by non-whites, and how our governments are run by Jews who are clearly trying to destroy any sense of homogeneity we ever had, is met with the pathetic cries of "Racist" "Racist" "Racist"...

  • universal translator: active (Score:4, Insightful)

    by v1 ( 525388 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @10:38PM (#22826680) Homepage Journal
    inspire fear, contain pornography, or endanger national security

    Lets see. inspire fear ... that'd be inspire fear in the government leaders that the people might SEE what they're really doing

    or, contain pornography ... as in, see the government naked and have some of their dirty secrets exposed for all to see

    and finally, endanger national security would be endanger their position of power by inciting unrest

    There, that's better.

    • that'd be inspire fear in the government leaders that the people might SEE what they're really doing
      They're actually more "rose tainted glasses" than that: No skeletons allowed in the Chinese WoW localization.
    • You know... could it be that so many die hard conservative politicians are against porn because they fear their voters could stumble upon their "I was young and needed the money" movies?
    • The govts of many nations are worse than 1000 tony sopranos.

      National security is a secret code for 'govt cronie security of their assets.
      Porn should be positive, only it makes politicians look even more ugly.

      Id say make a new rule, the govt parliament must be naked at all times, so ugly old fat shits arent voted in.
  • In an official press release, Chinese Vice Premiere of Public Communication Kahn d'Eljak stated that "The common decency of the people in their daily lives must not be interrupted by unsavory activists who only wish to destroy the Greatest Republic the world has ever known." The Premiere did not comment on the rec

  • What is wrong with the IOC (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 21, 2008 @10:39PM (#22826684)
    Haven't they learned from the 1936 and 1980 Olympics? A totalitarian government might promise the IOC that they will be more open and peaceful if they are allowed to host the Olympic Games, but they will not honor it. Perhaps this will be the first Olympic Games where the government hosting the games is massacring people while the athletes compete.

    Personally, I think it is time that the Olympics are removed from the control of the IOC. The games in China should also be canceled.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Shrug. IOC values are fascist values, always have been. The olympics is to be reviled, not lauded.

    • Re:What is wrong with the IOC (Score:5, Informative)

      by gzipped_tar ( 1151931 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @12:04AM (#22827008) Journal

      I am from Beijing and I really wish the game could be canceled.

      In Soviet China, the games play you. Yes it's true. I live in my college (a public one, funded by the govn't) where more than 80% of the students are from other places outside Beijing, me included. We will be forced to leave our campus before the Olympic games open, because the college's gym shall be used by the athelets as a place of training (some say they are the USA swimming team). The college has decided so, but offers no single bit of solution for our accomodation during that period. I guess most of us may have to go home --- for quite a few of us this means a long journey across the country, at a considerable cost. For those who has a job here this would mean further loss. I feel I'm being treated as an undesirable, troublesome one who is best kept clear from the city in which I have been living for three years. We are not free to travel or stay as we wish within our own country, or even within our own city.

      Thanks to the Olympic games China is drawing increasingly more attentions of the world. I hope that, as a result of the pressure from both within and outside, the govn't would take some measures for us. This is hardly likely, though.

      Now something on topic. Removing the Olympics from the IOC? Not likely. Canceling the games? The IOC members are very experienced in politics, and politics has nothing to do with human rights. They can't be ignorant to the massacre taking place in China, but that has nothing to do with their business. They have a perfect alibis: the IOC is not an organization for settling political affairs. We do our own business.

      Recently, the Olympic firetorch is going on its tour around the world, including Lhasa, Tibet. I can hardly imagine this.

      And a tip for some of you who may want to travel to China for watching the Games: you have to be prepared for the Internet experience in China which is far from yours in your home. Want to know more about a game? There's no Wikipedia. Want home news? A lot of media websites banned. Want watch video from YouTube? No way. Want to read your emails? If you've done many "undesirable " searches on Google you may have trouble accessing your gmail account, as some of my friends have noted. Slashdot? I can only hope the best. It seems that they havnt been keeping an eye on slashdot now. I guess most of the decision makers have no idea of what Slashdot is like...

      • I'm sorry, but Olympic Games are going to be held in August, and I suppose that is during the summer holiday in almost all of the universities in China, I suppose? Do you stay in school during holidays? Hard-working..
        • You'd be surprised how short summer holiday is in Chinese schools compared to those of the rest of the world.

        • Re:What is wrong with the IOC (Score:4, Informative)

          by gzipped_tar ( 1151931 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @10:01AM (#22829236) Journal

          I'm sorry, but Olympic Games are going to be held in August, and I suppose that is during the summer holiday in almost all of the universities in China, I suppose? Do you stay in school during holidays? Hard-working..

          Here in my college, many of the students stay at the campus even if it's the summer holiday. Some of them just can't afford the ticket home. We use to have choices, and now they say 'Go home. This place is not for you.' Not everyone can happily accept this.

      • Other reasons : avoiding students (Score:4, Insightful)

        by DrYak ( 748999 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @04:38AM (#22827952) Homepage

        We will be forced to leave our campus before the Olympic games open, because the college's gym shall be used by the athelets as a place of training (some say they are the USA swimming team).


        I think another reason that is also pleasing the government a lot is that this will keep all these students away from the camera of international journalist.
        You know, with all these habits that we students worldwide have of protesting and organising processions and strikes, it's good side effect that the campus will be closed, just in case if some Chinese students decided to overcome their fears and copy us trying some of the silly stuff that the foreign colleagues are doing.
        It would be specially embarrassing since they won't be able to handle potential students protest the usual way (it's not very encouraged to send tank against students in front of cameras).

        Except that if the government had said "Students aren't allowed to express publicly their political opinion" the whole western world would be complaining about attacks to their freedom of speech. Whereas "China announce it will happily lend its Colleges' gyms so athlete can win, saddly this means that the duration of the students summer break will have to be extended" suddenly sounds a lot more benevolent. The government hit two birds with single stone : They both do us a favor giving a place to our athlete and managed do discretely shut the Chinese students up.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by zdude255 ( 1013257 )
        Well, if it's any consolation, having China host the Olympics is probably going to bring change one way or another. Bringing journalists from every other country in the world to China doesn't sound like something a government that likes to control everything wants. There may be an international media backlash at China's state censorship as a result of the games.
    • ...where someone lumps in the 2002, 1996, or 1984 games into that category, too, not realizing that the mere fact that they can post such a statement falsifies it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Idiomatick ( 976696 )
      Massacres??? I tend to keep up with the news. I hope you have some proof to back up this very strong news. I think i'll assume you are referring to tibet.

      Its funny when you see human rights violations in the US people go thats shameful, we are better than this. Alot of people blaming corporations. Or saying theres nothing that can be done. When there are rights abuses in china, there is no question, the country is the embodiment of the devil. You are so harsh and judging, final in your judgment.

      And the

      • Re:What is wrong with the IOC (Score:5, Insightful)

        by 1u3hr ( 530656 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @04:37AM (#22827948)
        Don't get me started on Tibet. The country has basically been under Chinese rule until 1904 where the brits invaded. Tibet signed a treaty with the brits seperate from China. Then China retook the area in 1950. The country has been under chinese control currently LONGER than it had ever been apart from China.

        Don't get ME started on what a load of bullshit that is.

        China claimed sovereignty of Tibet, as it did for many neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam and Korea at various times. In practice, these countries may have paid tribute to Beijing, but Beijing never administered these regions. Tibet was an independent kingdom for most of the last two or three thousand years. A thousand years ago it actually controlled a large part of what is now China.

        The dalai lama doesn't even want independence.

        Of course he does. But he knows China would destroy Tibet rather than grant it. He's no fool. Asking for that would just give China another stick to beat him with.

        China is wiping out Tibetan culture at a fast pace, the only leverage the Tibetans have is international pressure, and in the Olympic year China cannot simply ignore it as it would do normally. They have little hope of success, but this is their last chance before their country is swamped by Chinese immigration and they become fringe slum dwellers in their own land.

        • China is wiping out Tibetan culture at a fast pace, the only leverage the Tibetans have is international pressure, and in the Olympic year China cannot simply ignore it as it would do normally. They have little hope of success, but this is their last chance before their country is swamped by Chinese immigration and they become fringe slum dwellers in their own land.

          In an Olympic year China is going to get noticed more and it is going be to be subject to more criticism. It will be interesting to see whether
        • Of course he does. But he knows China would destroy Tibet rather than grant it. He's no fool. Asking for that would just give China another stick to beat him with.
          The sad part is, the PRC and those who agree with GP will point to the Dalai Lama's request for autonomy and say "See? He doesn't want independence, so why the hell should we give it to Tibet?" There was an NPR broadcast a week ago that pointed out that China is probably just waiting for him to die, so that they can "find" a new Dalai Lama they c
        • China is wiping out Tibetan culture at a fast pace, the only leverage the Tibetans have is international pressure, and in the Olympic year China cannot simply ignore it as it would do normally. They have little hope of success, but this is their last chance before their country is swamped by Chinese immigration and they become fringe slum dwellers in their own land.

          The problem is, what real leverage do they possess? "International pressure" against China and a dollar bill, won't even buy you a soda. M

    • Re:What is wrong with the IOC (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kvezach ( 1199717 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @03:18AM (#22827658)
      I'll tell you what's wrong with the IOC: All the committee-members in their rooms, dancing and singing...

      Money, money, money
      always sunny
      in the rich man's world...

      • I'll tell you what's wrong with the IOC: All the committee-members in their rooms, dancing and singing...

        Money, money, money

        always sunny

        in the rich man's world...
        ...when they're not too busy getting hummers from young starlets.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Machtyn ( 759119 )
      Interesting you point out Nazi Germany and Commmunist Russia. Both goverments fell within 10 years of hosting the games. Perhaps the IOC knows more than we might think.

      /not holding breath.

  • GGW (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 21, 2008 @10:40PM (#22826686)
    I'm sure that somewhere there's a Girls Gone Wild video that does all three...
  • Word to your Chinese mother you heard!

  • long live Tor (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mwilliamson ( 672411 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @10:43PM (#22826704) Homepage Journal
    Run a tor node! Remove the potential for censure of information by oppressive regimes like China, Cuba and _[insert favorite oppressive country here]_ http://tor.eff.org/ [eff.org]

    • Re:long live Tor (Score:5, Interesting)

      by gzipped_tar ( 1151931 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @11:04PM (#22826804) Journal
      In Beijing, many of the TOR nodes are operated by the govn't.
      • If you download the latest version it will show you where you are being routed through. You can disconnect any nodes that you worry about.
      • I haven't used Tor in a while, but can't you blacklist nodes explicitly based on their public keys or location? Blacklist all the internal China nodes and you're good... or is there more to it?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      That will land you in prison in China. You obviously don't understand the level of internet monitoring in China. This isn't the RIAA cracking down on Napster. This represents lives in the balance. Your ignorant comment can get people executed. Please STFU on subjects you know little to nothing about

      Jin

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Artuir ( 1226648 )
        You can't hope for change when you decide it is best to simply submit. Do you honestly think the government in China will change without loss of life? Too late for that.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by guojc ( 1099675 )
      Tor speed is slow in China, not mention there are rumors on the net that the government uses some fake node discourage the use of tor. Using tor for viewing video site in China simply never works in China.

  • It should also be noted... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rindeee ( 530084 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @10:43PM (#22826706)
    I posted the following info on a previous thread a few days ago, but it was long enough after the story had been posted that it got buried. Anyway, because I believe that it's significant, I will again point out that Google would seem to be coalescing to the wishes of governments such as China. Google's automated the process of blocking particular videos in particular countries via new country blocking XML tags ([media :restriction type="country" relationship="deny">CN]") that they've added in YouTube/Google Video. If you're not familiar with Google's latest (Do no evil???) addition to YouTube, see the write-up that YouTomb did on the matter. Anyway, I can think of no other reason that Google would add in such capability, but I've admittedly not devoted much time to pondering it.

    • Re:It should also be noted... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by hayagriva ( 1260388 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @11:16PM (#22826850)
      True, but not new. I've been in China since 2004. Every time I've clicked on a Google Video link, it hasn't been blocked by China, but it's never worked. They're very nice about it, though: "Thanks for your interest in Google Video. Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn't available in your country. We hope to make this feature available more widely in the future, and we really appreciate your patience." Do no evil, or, if you have to, be polite about it?
      • Google themselves arent really being evil.
        Its still the Chinese government.

        The alternative is they allow all videos and get blocked in a millisecond.
        • Well, our laws judge helping a crook at least almost at the same level as being the crook.
          • In my books they are in the clear.
            Might as well put up a friendly message than let it be blocked.

            The net result is the same either way.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Mex ( 191941 )
        How would you deal with China if you had control of Google?

        Seems pretty sensible of GOOG to say "Sorry, can't help you in that country of yours".

        But what are you asking Google to do? Subterfuge? Organize (another) revolution? Break China's laws? You may not like them, but they are a sovereign country.

        You are making the same mistake the US made with Irak. Thinking you should save them, guided by a different moral compass.

        The Chinese have existed rather well on their own without our judgment. They had a shot
    • Is that how they restrict the viewing of music videos uploaded by the record companies to certain countries (US only, I think)? Example [youtube.com].

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by assassinator42 ( 844848 )
        Hate to reply to my own post, but I did some searching. I found a blog post [opennet.net] on the YouTomb study the GP mentioned, not sure if there's anything more.
        A look at the API data [youtube.com] reveals that it is the same mechanism used for music videos. I believe these restrictions have been in place for a while now, I believe some Canadians were complaining about not being able to watch some music video links last year (perhaps posters actually in Canada or another blocked country could clarify?). As mentioned in the blog po

  • Psiphon (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    No to censorship.

    Set up a Psiphon node.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psiphon [wikipedia.org]
  • 25 sites are shut down? How am I supposed to watch Ni Hao, Kai-Lan?

  • Everyone Says "Fuck China" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Skeetskeetskeet ( 906997 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @11:19PM (#22826866)
    But the majority of you will go to Wal-Mart at some point in the next 3 days and buy goods made from China. So who's winning the war here?
    • He is absolutely correct. This is the same effect as the west buying loads of oil from countries like Iran and Venezuela. The money is fed to terrorists. China will do the same. WRT china, the west is feeding this more and more. As long as money is incoming into china, the leadership will continue to send money to Dafar, North Korea, etc, as well as using the profits to crack down on their citizens. While we blame china, the biggest blame belongs with those that keep these leaders in power; The West.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by vertinox ( 846076 )
      Heck, last time I was in Target shopping with my significant other, I was bored out of my mind so I decided to play a game called "Find something not made in China" it took me 30 minutes or so until I found a candle holder made in India.

      Everything else was made in China.
    • Walmart fxxk the world.
    • Just go to Wal-Mart and try to purchase something NOT made in China. Really, try it!

  • Proof that rule by a few elite results in stupidty (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CrazyJim1 ( 809850 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @11:47PM (#22826944) Journal
    China is fighting unarmed(or lightly armed) monks in clear view of the world. While they can censor their own media, everyone else sees China as a bully. The Dali-Lama is actually being given an amplified voice. I sincerely do not believe that China wants the person they're trying to repress be given a bigger soap box, but that is what is happening in reality.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Ritz_Just_Ritz ( 883997 )
      I spend a lot of time in China. The Chinese media is actually portraying the monks as aggressive "counter-revolutionary" types. The language is similar to what you see western press doling out to Al Qaeda. The typical educated Chinese (I happen to be in Beijing) is buying into it because that is what they see and hear from the "news" on a regular basis. The deaths of civilians is being blamed on them too. Apparently, all the dead civilians "burned to death" even though there is gunfire all over the cit

      • Hero (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Fantastic Lad ( 198284 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @03:31AM (#22827716)
        Most nations believe their own propaganda, thinking that "Only our enemies use propaganda on their people". --Until, that is, things starts to get really bad politically. The U.S., in spite of everything, is waking up. It's to the point now that only the slowest of the slow learners don't sigh in disgust when Fox News is mentioned, (though many have yet to recognize just how wide-spread the programming is at this point, but that awareness is coming, albeit slowly).

        That being said, China is fskced. I've met some native Chinese who came here to go to school, and the propaganda they carry with them is unreal. "One China" anybody? That freaky film, "Hero" canonizing a butcher pretty much sums that one up. And I've met people who have lived here for over a decade who still hunch up and look frightened when you ask them what they think of the Chinese government. Like abuse victims. I guess the truncheons haven't fully come out yet in the U.S., and real information is still being controlled through ridicule rather than simply being locked down.

        I've heard the U.S. described as the largest social experiment on the planet; the objective being to see if it is possible to fully control people without the use of force. Kind of like a beef farmer letting their cattle think they're living happy, free lives when in fact almost every thought and decision is dictated.


        -FL

  • With all the black holes springing up in the network, surely the natives suspect something?
  • Unfortunately, IMO, this is a pure speculation without base. The crackdown is not related with Tibet event. After a few minutes search on the Internet, I find the sites mentioned to be cracked down were cracked before March 14th, when the major unrest was break out. Anyone that can read Chinese, please read this link http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/51236.htm [cnbeta.com], it is an article about the one of major video sharing site being out of service for one day. It was before March 14th, and before you tube is reported

  • Not surprising (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The real issue is that over the next 5 years, this will get worse, not better. As it does, the leadership will want to hold on to their country (and their position). They KNOW that their citizens are a much bigger threat to them than any other nation. So what will happen? They will take the fight out of the country and go elsewhere. IOW, they will attack another country. It could be taiwain. It could also be a country like Russia (great resources for them) and a fairly easy target if they blitz it. But make
  • Chinese video sharing sites must promise not to show videos that inspire fear, contain pornography, or endanger national security."

    Just like the US is trying, except that would include videos which attempt to dispel government sanctioned fear (i.e. of terrorism, pornography or drugs), contain pornography, or endanger national (or corporate) security.
  • I live in Hong Kong, a part of China where they haven't banned everything. I don't think that banning video sites is the right thing to do, but the Olympics is where political differences are set aside, to allow athletes to compete for the sake of competition And i think that no government system would allow demonstrators to burn cars, wreck stores and beat up people of other authenticity on the street.
    • Well, I personally do not agree with the chinese gov, but I agree with you. It will be sad if politics come to the olympics. This is suppose to remain outside of that realm. Besides, I really do not think that boycotts has ever put pressures on the hosting govs.

      Oddly enough, a number of countries may pull out for a different reason; China is playing games with the pollution levels there. Several of the world top runners have announced that they will either not run the long races, or will not be in china a
  • You can't access Youtube in Turkey. The last time Turkey blocked it, the DNS just pointed to a page giving the name of the court decision that had resulted in the blocking. This time around they've taken stronger measures so simply using another DNS server isn't good enough.

    In any case, Turkey is a democracy and it still blocks Youtube because of videos insulting national heroes. That's what you get from an independent judiciary with laws restricting free speech.

  • Spread a little thought-provoking happiness (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Bullard ( 62082 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @05:33AM (#22828132) Homepage
    Does this [stage6.com] link work from behind the Chinese Communist Party's firewall?


    This [phayul.com] one's certainly blocked since it belongs to exiled Tibetans' domain which has for years been under heavy attacks by the CCP's electronic warfare corps.

    Since the biggest problem with China is that the masses simply don't know anything else other than the "information" managed by the Party's Ministry of Propaganda, it is imperative that the West begins to pay more attention to the right of the Chinese people to access news sources outside their regime's control. It'd be a start if the US and the EU would not just approve of but actually promote the creation of peer-to-peer filesharing and streaming sites. Strangely, most of the current p2p streaming sites seem to operate from China and Taiwan, but they're strictly centered around "harmless" stuff like sports, entertainment and local dramas without a whiff of anything resembling social or political content.

  • knowledge begets knowledge.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 3seas ( 184403 ) on Saturday March 22, 2008 @06:17AM (#22828258) Homepage Journal
    ... and specific knowledge begets its own increase.

    I find it interesting that it appears that most of the sites that point to pages that were installed on my site without my knowledge (just under 2500 pages), are Chinese in origin.

    google "threeseas.net" then google 'threeseas .net -"blogger/log/cache"' and see the different in result count. and look at what sites are pointing to those hacked in pages.

    It seems the Chinese people are bored and have taken up internet hacking for censorship as a hobby. And hey, even their government is doing it.

    What are the effects such hacking has thru AUTOMATED crawlers and AUTOMATED analysis of search engines like google?

    Watch as google finds more and more of these pages "not found" on my site (as I have removed them and redirected all hits to those pages) and google finds redirection.... to eventually reduce my legitimate listing in their search results.

    Imagine that, Chinese site hacking reducing search results of sites in other countries for the citizens of other countries.

    Google and other search engine companies have things they really need to deal with regarding such indirect manipulation of their automated systems.

    Until they get a better handle on it, there are far bigger and wider scope issues regarding Chinese censorship then what the article is about.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 3seas ( 184403 )
      to be clear, my site is only one of many many sites that include sourceforge based sites.
  • If that project could ever get some network performance (speed) it could really help in places like China.
  • The real question is, where are all the videos that should be streaming out of Tibet? CNN isn't broadcasting them, and neither is any other news outlet. Granted, it's a poor nation, so there's not too many people with technology, and they're scared shitless (as I would be) but does the Chinese government really exercise THAT much control over people's cell phones, video recorders, and cameras?

    I mean, there should be SOME indications as to what is going on there. If the Chinese government has that muc

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