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On Dec. 28, China's government signed new censorship laws that, at first glance, may spell terror for your investments. But that's only what news outlets may have you believe.

In reality, the law mostly makes official what companies and the government have been practicing all along. To put it another way, the law doesn't bring any new changes to how censorship is carried out in China. So before you pull back on your investments, here's a quick rundown of China's real censorship policies.

Myth 1: This law will make censorship much worseJust as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal report, China's new laws do require Internet users to provide their real names to service providers. In turn, Internet companies now bear greater responsibility for deleting and reporting illegal activity online.

However, the move is not really an "attack" on freedom of speech. To a great extent, almost every Internet company censors and reports users already. For example, both SINA (NASDAQ: SINA) and Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) have algorithms that wipe the Internet of illegal postings and employ up to 1,000 "censors" to patrol the website. So all this law really does is make official what companies have done already. Not much has changed.

Myth 2:Censorship will crush your companies, your investmentsThe news also portrays China's micro-blogging communities such as SINA Weibo ("Twitter of China") or hi.baidu.com (Baidu's blogging service) in danger of dying slowly or shutting down. But neither are likely to happen -- at least, not because of censorship.

Think about it: All companies, big and small, must comply with these new regulations. And the bigger companies have an advantage at managing these new rules at relatively minimal costs. The only way that SINA and Baidu's social efforts are in danger is if a better product comes along, like Tencent's WeChat, and makes micro-blogging obsolete. But that's another story.

So far, it seems censorship has done little to scare investor confidence in these companies. That shouldn't be a surprise. Many Chinese investors probably recognized the governmental risk a long time ago, and most have probably concluded that the potential, long-term returns outweighed the risks. It seems like investors still believe that.

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Politics Book Review: Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate by Gre...
http://www.PoliticsBookMix.com This is the summary of Unlearning Liberty Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate by Greg Lukianoff.

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Politics Book Review: Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate by Gre... - Video

Unneeded Censorship: Mass Effect 2 Teaser
I am by no means trying to start copyright issues with normaldifficulty or markkoh94, I just thought it would be really fun to make this video. If they want me to take it down, I will. STALK MEH ON TWITTAH: twitter.com

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China's Great Firewall of Internet censorship has become household knowledge in recent years, but the extent to which the country controls all forms of media is less well known. It has, however, become a huge headache for Hollywood lately, as movie studios struggle to break in to the world's second largest film market. It's a struggle because every single film bound for Chinese theaters has to make it pastChina's all-powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) whose guidelines for what is and isn't acceptable is more or less subjective and entirely unpredictable. All the studios can do is hire consultants who are familiar with the ins and outs of censorship in China and hope for the best. But even after a script is approved and the film is shot and edited, SARFT can swoop in and block the film for any reason.

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That's exactly what happened to director Rob Cohen, who explained the travails of working with China's censors to The New York Times in a story set to hit the paper's front page on Tuesday. One of Cohen's recent films isThe Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor -- we didn't realize they were still making The Mummy series either but whatever -- which was filmed in China in 2007 after the country's censorship bureau had approved the script. However, after watching the film, Cohen says that the censors landed on a problem that the filmmakers "didn't have any way of seeing, or any way of fixing." Cohen put it bluntly: "White Westerners were saving China." Although the film was approved, Cohen says its release was delayed until after it had been seen by everyone else in the world.

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Bringing in consultants does help movie studios frame projects in a censor-friendly manner, but after filming begins the filmmakers have to be very careful not to deviate from the plan. As Cohen explained, SARFT sends spies to the set to make sure everything is going as planned."There were points where we were shooting with a crew of 500 people," said Cohen. "I'm not sure who was who or what, but knowing the way the system works, it's completely clear that had we deviated from the script, it would not have gone unnoticed." This is even more believable when you realize that China has tens of thousands of volunteer spies, monitoring the Internet and helping to identify which sites should be blocked.

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Like we said, any little detail can be cause for blocking a movie. InThe Karate Kid, SARFT didn't like the fact that the villain was Chinese so the filmmakers had to change the story to make it acceptable. They took issue withKung Fu Panda simply because the main character was a nationally treasured animal. Censors ordered nearly 15 minutes of footage to be cut fromMen in Black 3 because the movie referred to Chinese censorship. God forbid the Chinese people find out that their government is controlling.

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Celebrities Targeted in Censorship Crackdown mdash;NTD China News, January 11, 2013
In today #39;s NTD China News, China and Japan play cat and mouse with fighter jets over the disputed Diaoyu, aka Senkaku, Islands. Chinese authorities have turned on celebrities to silence anti-censorship protests. Taiwanese actress Annie Yi is among those who were "invited to tea" with police. The term is a code for being called in for questioning. At least 42 people died in a landslide in Yunnan province. Dozens more were buried. Human rights abuses aren #39;t the only problem with China #39;s labor camp system, the massive amounts of money spent on operating it is also drawing attention. Senior Chinese official Yu Zhengsheng has reiterated the Chinese regime #39;s stance on the "Dalai Lama clique". Yu #39;s speech in Sichuan province this week indicates the regime will not let up in its suppression of the Tibetans. The cold spell in China has pushed up the prices of food, driving up inflation in December to 2.5% more than a year ago. As Chinese residents around the country experience record breaking low temperatures, some are finding some unexpected inconveniences like slow charging iPads. New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts impress audiences in Quebec, Canada, with its sellout performances showcasing China #39;s 5000 years of divinely inspired culture.

By: NTDonChina

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Celebrities Targeted in Censorship Crackdown—NTD China News, January 11, 2013 - Video