Helping Commercial Companies Destroy Their Competitors: Beijing’s Top Internet Cop Arrested (Updated)

February 20, 2009 9:18 AM

19ca002_Mingpao is reporting news of the arrest of the head of the Internet monitoring department of the Bureau on suspicion of accepting bribes. The original Chinese report is here; Excerpts translated by CDT:

Helping Commercial Companies Destroy Their Competitors: The Director of Beijing’s Internet Monitoring Department Took 40 Million RMB in Bribes

(??), the director of the Internet monitoring department of the Beijing public security bureau, has been arrested by the Beijing procuratorate and is under investigation for taking more then 40 million RMB in bribes from the Rising (??) anti-virus software company and partnering with other to frame a competitor of Rising (??), Micropoint Company, resulting in the failure of the latter’s new products to reach the market. Three criminal suspects, including Yu Bing, have been arrested.

Mingpao’s article is based on China’s Science and Technology Daily ??????report earlier this month.

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Read also: Rising VP Arrested for Bribes, Framing Competitor.

Update 1: Rising Denies Allegations It Framed Competitor.

Update 2: Chinese internet surveillance tsar arrested for graft on the Irish Times:

China’s top surveillance tsar has been has been arrested for taking bribes and framing a business rival, a move that has inspired and gratified both local bloggers and foreign journalists used to stultifying censorship regulations, and prompted questions at senior levels of the Communist Party about how the “Great Firewall of China” is enforced.

Yu Bing, director of the internet monitoring department of Beijing’s Public Security Bureau (PSB), has been arrested on suspicion of taking more than 40 million yuan (€4.5 million) in bribes.

Everyone in Beijing is accustomed to living with surveillance of their online activities: internet cafe habitues, student bloggers, teenage gamers and foreign journalists are all used to that familiar message saying your internet search has fallen foul of security.

Update 4: China’s surveillance cop arrested:

Beijing’s top surveillance czar has been arrested on suspicion of taking bribes and framing a businessman, a move that comes as a serious blow to the net nannies who police the “Great Firewall of China.”

Yu Bing, director of the internet monitoring department of Beijing’s Public Security Bureau (PSB), has been arrested on suspicion of taking more than 40 million yuan ($5.8 million) in bribes.

China has tens of thousands of “net nannies,” who read every email, web posting or search for terms such as “Dalai Lama” or “Falun Gong.”

… Everyone in Beijing is accustomed to living with surveillance of their online activities: internet cafe habitues, student bloggers, teenage gamers and foreign journalists are all used to that familiar message saying your internet search has fallen foul of security.

Update 5: Beijing’s Top Internet Spy Arrested on the Wired blog.