The internet in China

[Kenny]

"There are now an estimated 137 million internet users in China, second in number only to the United States, where estimates of the current internet population range from 165 million to 210 million.

The growth rate of China's internet user population has been outpacing that of the U.S., and China is projected to overtake the U.S. in the total number of users within a few years."

Source:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/218/report_display.asp

 

[Ronald Regging]

I agree with DomainSpade, you can't really separate the politics from this... Though I think we definitely need to watch for this type of stuff. America is not going to be on top for long. I recently read an article about broadband, specifically France and also I believe China was mentioned. Basically, these countries all have faster speeds and cheaper rates by far. These countries are trying to make Internet access as fast and cheap as possible to ensure that everyone is connected.

Conversely, the American government is still upholding monopolies. They haven't opened up broadband and cell networks to competition like they did with land lines. This means we have fewer choices and pay higher rates. Also, the lack of competition doesn't give companies incentives to offer faster services, which they easily could.

It's a tough issue though. No company wants to spend billions on creating a network and then be forced by the government to open it up and allow competitors to use it. And most of us as Americans would probably have an issue with the government telling us how to run our business.

So essentially, America is becoming more and more stagnant in this regard while other countries are embracing it and growing at leaps and bounds.

 

[duskdawn]

Well, this isnt completly about the .CN or .com.cn extentions as many chinese us the .NET over .com also.

The real point I was hoping to hear comments on was the influx of internet users in general.

Peace,
Cy

Talking about internet users, no doubt the potential of Chinese market is huge. Data I collected shows China has 160 million online users by 2007/6. It is estimated to surpass US in 2-3 years. This brings profit to anyone who dare to explore.
As I said in the earlier post, political interference that many people here worrying about is neglectable when it comes to domain business.
Most of websites that you can not access from China are pornography/gambling/violence, about 1/3 (the rest) are political dissident sites. Adult sites/domains are revenue generating but I'm sure it is not a mainstream for everybody. Political sites/domains? Not money making at all. So for the rest of your investment niche which most domainers are into, you have as much freedom as you have for say .us, or even more with the huge population and economic boom.

My whole point summed up:

Does China have problems, politically speaking?
Yes.
Should .cn be avoided, economically speaking?
A bigger NO.

 

[Ronald Regging]

I dont know Chinese or Pinyin, so it seems pointless to get involved. I think the statements that a lot of Chinese people are making money from .cn or will be is probably accurate. This will be a huge deal, but unfortunately a lot of us are precluded by our ignorance of the language. Personally I just don't ever see English word .cns being worth a whole lot. Unless English becomes the primary language of China, which isn't very likely

Either way, I'm just glad to see more people on the Net. Even if not from a business perspective, it's just great to see that the world is becoming more and more connected. Makes it easier for me to take over the world

 

[owntype]

I second duskdawn's opinions.

The government bans adult sites, gambling sites and some of the dissident sites (not all of them). The online free speech somewhat restricted comparing to U.S but not THAT restricted (especially nowadays) as most of you thought.

Do you think adult/gambling sites and dissident sites are the mainstream of internet? I don't think so. This is the point to put down your bias.

I refer the data again, just FYI

site:.cn - 314,000,000 results
site:.com.cn - 498,000,000 results

site:.co.uk - 189,000,000 results

site:.de - 159,000,000 results

site:.in - 16,500,000 results
site:.co.in - 537,000 results

Alexa is also a good source to know how huge the internet market in China is.

Ignore .cn today, regret it tomorrow (hey, I am not suggesting to reg .cn unless you know Pinyin and Chinese well)

 

[Dan]

I'm going to have to agree with everything Ronald Regging has said so far.

Alexa is also a good source to know how huge the internet market in China is.

Alexa isn't a good source of anything.

 

[duskdawn]

@Ronald Regging,
You are right. I failed to mention the language/culture is the biggest barrier in this. But that's what I am here for lol.

 

[Kenny]

@Ronald Regging,
You are right. I failed to mention the language/culture is the biggest barrier in this. But that's what I am here for lol.

To make sure RR doesnt take over the world? =))

 

[Ronald Regging]

Do you think adult/gambling sites and dissident sites are the mainstream of internet? I don't think so. This is the point to put down your bias.

Yes... Without adult sites... The internet would be nothing.

 

[Web Master]

Deleted by poster for harmony.


%%-

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

Justin, it is their call. And things are changing. The potential resourse to domainers and the web as a whole is incredible.
Your opinion is valid as well, but I believe this market opening up will be a boon to the worlds economy and to the PRC.

I believe Dr. Wang has answered the Food & Drug Admins fate.

Lets not turn this into a political thread, that was not my intention.

Peace,
Cy

I don't think it's their call to deny freedom and emotional growth to anyone, but then again, I was a soldier and my main interest in serving was to preserve freedom. I understand that they are in the process of changing things, but that still doesn't undo all the harm that this leader has caused. I apologize that I had to comment again about this on the thread, but that statement struck close to my heart, and in any event, with this cctld most certainly politics cannot help but become part of the equation.