China Cracking Down on Internet Cafes

China has closed 1,600 internet cafes and fined operators a total of $12 million for letting children play violent games and for other violations, the government said. Article from EcommerceTimes.com on the Impact on E-Commerce in China: "When you shut off access to that many people, it definitely slows down progress," Heather Dougherty, retail analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings, told the E-Commerce Times. "This could have a huge impact in terms of how China progresses in e-commerce. It's certainly another hurdle."
Of course, it's not only a hurdle for China, say analysts, but it is also a hurdle for those U.S. companies looking to expand into this foreign market. EBay and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) are two such companies.
EBay started its ingress into China two years ago with the incremental purchase of player EachNet. EBay invested $180 million in two bond transactions that left it with sole ownership of the site that has 6.9 million users who traded $63 million of goods in the second quarter. "