In Thailand

Apr 4, 2007 14:20 GMT  ·  By

YouTube, the online video sharing owned by Google, causes new headaches after it received a new ban in Thailand. According to the local authorities, the search giant refused to remove an offending clip from the page so they had nothing to do than to block the entire website.

"Since Google has rejected our repeated requests to withdraw the clip, we can't help blocking the entire site in Thailand. When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban," said Mr. Sitthichai, a telecoms professor, according to Globe and Mail.

The same publication reported the clip recorded more than 16.000 views and 93 comments but the YouTube representatives sustained they refuse to remove the movie because it is not offensive.

This is not the first time when YouTube is blocked in a country because the video service was often accused for copyright infringement and received bans for refusing to delete the clips. The first case was reported in Brazil when Daniela Cicarelli, Ronaldo's ex-wife, sued Google for copyright infringement. After the Brazilian model filed a complaint against the search giant for publishing videos without authorization, a Brazilian court banned YouTube in the country until the company removed all the videos from the page.

Another case was reported in Turkey, Google being blocked in the entire country until the video service removed all the offensive clips. At that time, YouTube published several movies offending the residents of the country, the company receiving the ban until all the clips are removed. Soon after the Turkey ban was removed, numerous residents of Thailand sustained the service is unavailable in their country but the authorities didn't make any official announcement. Although I'm not sure if the ban is a result of this old matter, YouTube is blocked in Thailand and will remain unavailable as long as the offensive videos are not removed from the page.