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Online entertainment
网上娱乐
A craze too foreign
热潮太洋
China tries to restrict foreign entertainment online
中国要限制网上的国外娱乐产品
FOR young professionals in China's cities, watching television online has become a part of daily life. In Shanghai, for example, many office workers watch their favourite TV shows at their desks during lunch-hours, on the metro on the way home, or even while walking on the city's crowded pavements.
在网上看电视节目已经成为中国城市上班族日常生活的一部分。譬如说在上海，许多白领会午休时在桌子上看他们最爱的电视节目，而乘地铁回家时候也要看，甚至走在熙熙攘攘的人行道上还要看。
Foreign TV dramas are a particular attraction. They are strictly controlled on terrestrial television stations, but can be watched free on China's video-streaming websites. This year Chinese viewers have been gripped by “House of Cards”, an American political drama series, as well as by several South Korean shows and the BBC's “Sherlock”, which was available with an authorised Chinese translation hours after being shown in Britain.
外国电视剧尤其吸引人。这些剧在本土被电视台牢牢把持，不过反而可以在中国的视频网站上免费观看。今年中国观众就迷上了美国政治剧《纸牌屋》，还有几部韩剧。BBC制作的《夏洛克》也受到追捧，这部剧在英国本土播出数小时后，就会有经过授权翻译的版本出现在中国的网络上。
Yet viewers may soon find their choices more limited. Last week China's TV regulator said that, from April, any foreign series or film would need approval before being shown online. Chinese media say that regulators are also considering limiting the number of foreign series shown online to a specific proportion of total output. The new rules appear aimed at closing one of the biggest loopholes in China's control of its media: on terrestrial TV, for example, foreign dramas are banned in prime time. Many are forbidden altogether.
但观众可能马上就要感觉到选择受限了。上周，中国的电视监管部门表示，从今年四月起，所有电影或电视剧都需要许可方能在网上播放。同时中国媒体报道称，监管部门也在考虑限制网上播出的外国电视剧数目，将其限定在占总量的某一比例。新规则似乎也意在堵上中国媒体管控中最大的漏洞：比方说，电视台就是在黄金时间禁止播放外国节目。有许多电视台更是完全放弃播出。
It is not clear how strictly the content of foreign programmes shown online will be vetted. But the regulator's call for “healthy, well-made” works which “showcase good values” seems to echo a recent tightening of controls on terrestrial TV. These include bans on dramas dealing with topics such as superstition, espionage and—bizarrely—time travel. Earlier this year Chinese websites were ordered to remove several American TV series; at least one of these, it was announced, would be shown, edited, on state TV instead. In a hint of what may follow, the government broadcaster recently screened the fantasy drama “Game of Thrones”—minus nudity and violence (ie, the point).
对网上外国节目内容审查有多严格，目前还不清楚。但监管部门呼吁要有「展现良好价值观」的「健康，精良」的作品，似乎是对最近官方收紧电视台控制的呼应。如今电视台里禁止播放以迷信，谍战为题材的节目。莫名其妙的是还禁了穿越剧。今年早些时候，官方命令网站将几部美剧下架；后来宣布说其中至少有一部将会在国家电视台播出，不过是编辑过的版本。为了示范接下来会怎么做，政府的电视台最近播出了奇幻剧《权力的游戏》——少了躶体与暴力（本剧的关键点）。
The new controls may simply push younger viewers away from authorised providers and towards pirate sites instead, says a Chinese academic specialising in media studies. At a time when China has at last begun to bring copyright infringements under control—the country's main video-streaming websites now pay foreign producers for their TV shows—that would be a step backwards.
一位专于研究媒体的学者表示，新的管制可能只会把比较年轻的观众从有授权的网站赶到盗版网站去。如今中国终于开始管控侵犯版权的行为，而主要的视频网站现在也给外国生产商的电视剧付费。管制真是开倒车啊。译者：周鼎烨
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