The Sleeping Dragon: China and The Adult Internet
by Ed Rampell
Part Three: Serve the People
"About 25% of the users access from cybercafes," Chase tells Klixxx, adding: "lots of people access the Internet from home, university, and office computers." Wolf says, "Official Internet cafes block adult content. There're lots of illegal ones - 2,400 cybercafes in Beijing; most are illegal, and open, and you can access forbidden material."
Wolf notes, "Once they have it in cybercafes, they want it at home. Once they have it at home, they want faster speed, and better computers… American computer manufacturers and companies like Dell and Apple are opening in PRC. Internet providers are popping up to provide access, and high-speed providers are coming. It's all starting now."
"The demand for broadband, like video streaming, is very high, too, because they have very good connections there," says Wolf. "Once Asians see their own native payment system, they of course prefer to join it, instead of getting sent to an English Visa or Mastercard sign-up form. We provide Japanese and Korean surfers with a local payment system in their native language."
However, Wolf points out, "E-commerce right now is very low, they don't have the right e-commerce systems. There aren't many Chinese sites out there to cater to them. "Demand for free stuff is very high - it's the only thing they can get. Because they really can't join now, since they don't have the right payment models… In countries like Korea, where there's some censorship, users can always get around filtering systems, and then they have to pay."
What kind of erotica do PRC customers prefer? "They want to see lots of their own content, Asian-related, and in Chinese," Wolf states. "They push for their own content… They have their own stars, own idols… But there's a Caucasian niche market, too; that's mostly what they get to see, as 80% of the world's content is white. Their own content is a little bit underdeveloped," says Wolf.
The CEO adds, "Adult Web sites aren't shot and located in China, but in Korea, Japan, and Thailand. However, the demand by Chinese end users is very high - people online want to see it, have it. No money should flow there. It's all outside of the country."
Part One: The Great Firewall of China
Part Two: Dare To Struggle, Dare To Win!
Part Three: Serve The People
Part Four: Political Power Grows Out of the Barrel of a Computer
Part Five: Let 100 Flowers Bloom
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