Getting around the "Great Firewall," the system used by China to control internet access, just got harder with a popular virtual private network forced to cease operating on orders from the government.
GreenVPN sent a notice to customers that it would stop service from July 1 after "receiving a notice from regulatory departments," without elaborating on those demands. VPNs work by routing internet traffic to servers in another location, such as the U.S., that are beyond the reach of Chinese filters.
VPNs are popular in China because the government limits access to a raft of content, from news and video to politics and pornography that it deems to be undesirable. For many internet users, services that enable them to bypass the Great Firewall are the only way to access Facebook, Twitter and the websites of the New York Times. Long a legal gray area, VPNs are commonly used by businesses, universities and news organizations — including state-run newspapers — in China.