China blocks entire Content Delivery Network before World Internet Conference

The Chinese government has blocked access to a major content delivery network (CDN), days before the World Internet Conference, which will take place in the country and will gather many of the world's top technology companies.

The network, operated by EdgeCast has been blocked since Thursday. The company is an affiliate of Verizon Communications and delivers content and services for web companies, rather than specific web addresses. In a statement, the operator admitted there were disruptions to its operations in China.

"We have put policies in place to help our customers mitigate the effects of this most recent filtering but expect this to be an ongoing issue for our customers seeking to reach Chinese users," the California-based company said.

"It only shows that the Chinese authorities see Internet content control on top of the list," Lento Yip, chairman of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association, said in an e-mail. "Given they block Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, it is not a surprise that they can bear this 'collateral damage' to block CDNs."

Meanwhile, the World Internet Conference starts Wednesday in Wuzhen. China's newly formed "Cyberspace Administration" has organised the event with the aim to "promote the development of (the) internet to be the global shared resource for human solidarity and economic progress". Chinese policymakers and top industry executives are expected to attend the event.

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