In addition to the 17,488 Internet bars shut down, another 28,000 were ordered to install monitoring software soon, it said. The software was required as part of regulations issued by Beijing last year aimed at controlling the Internet's use. The government wants to encourage the Internet's growth as a commercial medium. But Beijing fears its other use as a forum for political dissent.

So at what point will they start coming in to people's homes to make sure they are "compliant". I've read a couple of times that they actually work with ISPs to make sure particular content is not made available to the public. Also, given the recent surge of laws we've had here in the US surrounding terrorism, is anyone concerned that we might see some similar laws attempted stateside? I seriously doubt stuff like that would go through, but wouldnt be surprised that they get some support.