The Death of 56.Com?

Filed in archive Internet on July 9, 2008

The Guangzhou-based video sharing site 56.Com seems to have bit the dust. For the moment at least, the site is dead. And it has been for over a month...

Web TV Wire seems to think that the disappearance of 56.com back on June 3rd is an example of the Beijing government's strict regulation of video sites. The 56.com site was the closest thing in China to YouTube.

On June 4th 56.com announced that they'd had a server malfunction. Their "server" has now been on the fritz for five weeks - a long time, even in China...

In the meantime, Todou and Youku, China's other big video sharing sites, seem fine. For now.

Oh, did I mention... 56.com has $30 million in VC funds tied up in it. Investors include Sequoia Capital and Disney's Steamboat Ventures.