Goodbye You Tube

News out of Beijing last week was that China has decided to ban all foreign online video sources such as YouTube and Flicker. Only Chinese government-owned or licensed online video sources will be allowed after 30 January. Of course China is taking these restrictive steps with the intent of controlling what ideas Chinese citizens will be exposed to but the result is not limited to being yet another blocked source of information on the outside world. Another outcome will be that foreign online businesses are being denied equal access to the Chinese market. Chinese online video sources and e-business will be available to the entire world, but not vice versa. The playing field seems to be getting less level all the time.