Chinese "American Idol" Not as Popular with the Government as the Public

The Chinese talent show "Super Girl", somewhat like American Idol, was recently cancelled by the Chinese government on the grounds that each 3 hour long episode exceeded the official one and a half hour limit. But the government has been letting the time issue slide for a while now, so many news critics are wondering what actually tipped their decision to pull the plug. Was it the display of "unethical antics", its gradual drift towards becoming the Chinese American Idol, or the fact that the government had no grip on such an influential show? The result of the show's success was that whichever girl rose to the top had vast influence and attention. The Chinese government might have gotten upset over not having a hand in picking who got such a renowned title. Also, there's the fact that the show represents and empowerment to women, which the government vowed to remedy by replacing the shows content with "practical information about housework".

However, once the Chinese government had plugged up one hole in their censorship regime, another one appeared. Fans of the show immediately turned to the internet to express the discontent. While the PRC can block thousands of sites from being accessed, it's hard for them to control what people say on the websites that aren't banned. In the past few years, the internet has become the primary place for the Chinese masses to gather anonymously and frustrate the government's censorship agencies.

Sneaky Tactics Take Two Bites out of Apple

A while before the iPad had even been conceived by the guys at Apple, the name had been trademarked by Chinese electronics company Weiguan in anticipation that Apple would want to use it. The technology giant, with its numerous resources, purchased the international trademark for the iPad name from Weiguan for a measly 35,000 pounds. However, in 2010, the Shenzhen filed an accusation of trademark violation, arguing that their branch had not verified the sale of the iPad name, and that the international trademark did not extend to China. The result of this was that Apple sued Shenzhen Weiguan, only to be ruled against by the court. According to the judge, the agreement that Apple had reached with Weiguan was only with the latter's Tiwan branch, not the Shenzhen branch. Because of this, Apple must appeal to the Chinese Supreme Court if they want to sell the iPad in China.

This isn't the first roadblock Apple has come across in China; counterfeiters and fake Apple stores have hurt the company's sales there. Frankly speaking, it wouldn't be surprising if Weiguan had hoped for Apple to overlook this technicality so they could take a nice, big double-dip in the international gadgetry giant. But who would've thought that the international trademark did not extend to China? If Weiguan had a couple more international branches, would they have expected Apple to reach a deal with each and every one of them?