“At least 24 people were killed and 13 injured when a fire swept through a packed Internet cafe in a university district of China’s capital, Beijing, on Sunday in the city’s worst fire in 50 years.

“The blaze drew a swift response from government leaders — Mayor Liu Qi ordered the immediate closure of all Internet cafes in the city and fire inspections for all buildings over the next three months,” Reuters reports.

[…] China’s tight controls on the Internet and Web cafes have driven many operators underground, where they operate illegally behind locked doors to avoid scrutiny in their rush to serve millions of people seeking Internet access.

[…] At the Lanjisu cafe, one of 2,200 illegally operating Web bars in the city, customers had to rap at a bolted door to get in and out, witnesses said.

[…] A resident said the cafe boasted 95 computers and, in a testimony to the booming popularity of underground Web surfing, had moved from a smaller site just two months ago.

[…] Many Chinese youths turn to the illegal parlours because they cannot afford their own computer, and still others are lured by the freedom of anonymous Internet access in a country where teams of police monitor and track Web use from homes and offices.

Which raises two obvious questions: Has prohibition ever worked, anywhere? And is internet porn really all that great…?

[found via Indepundit]

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