Whose tube?

摘要

At first sight, anyway, it seems like one more case of a clumsy, authoritarian government being wrong-footed by nimble creatures from cyberspace who acknowledge no borders and can leap effortlessly over almost any obstacle. YouTube, the website that dominates the market in user-generated, online videos (or in plain language, a place where almost anybody can post a film about almost anything) has been blocked by Thailand's military-backed government. The ban was imposed in a fit of indignation over a 44-sec-ond clip that mocked the country's monarch. It was a crude bit of work, showing King Bhumibol Adulyadej with feet over his face and mouth, an image certain to offend Thai Buddhists.