Blocked in China Every Which Way

*sigh*

I was going to share part of a TV show in China.  The video was on Youku.com which is sometimes referred to (particularly by those outside of China) as "The YouTube of China" because of its similarities to YouTube.  Also, YouTube, coincidentally like several other key foreign web sites that could be serious competitors to local companies, is blocked in China.

When I was nearly finished with the post I had a question for a friend in America.  So I sent the link to the video on Youku and... well, this is what she saw:

I didn't notice it before cause I had viewed it prior to turning on my VPN (which makes me appear as if I am in the US).

So, I can't share it with you on YouTube in part because YouTube is blocked in China so the video wasn't posted there.  I can't share it with you on Youku because they block the video outside of Mainland China.

I understand that there are videos in the US which can't be viewed elsewhere due to licensing reasons and such.  It's just that this feels like a particularly ironic situation.

Anyways, this actually gives me an idea for Facebook if they ever come to China.  I'll save it for a post I'm working on.

I've also been noticing some peculiar behavior with the Great Firewall lately.  More on that later as well.