Friday, March 13, 2009

Grass-Mud Horse Singalong

While the law here in NZ is about to grow another ass in the form of the Gang Insignia Bill, it may be worth reading about the latest craze in China. While China's censors are going hell for leather trying to "harmonise" the internet, a workaround has been found.

The story of the mythical alpaca-like grass-mud horse, and its continuing fight with the river crab, is an internet wonder. On one hand it's a cheery tale, an innocent children's bedtime story. On the other it's an outrageous tale of the fight between fuck-your-mother and harmony. It all depends on how one listens to it.

China's learning a similar lesson to the US with copyright. The rich and powerful don't get to define the interpretation any longer. The cloud majority rules with common usage. Get used to it.