We hope our Olympians fully-stocked their iPods before going to Beijing as China has reportedly cut off access to iTunes. As the story goes, China got wind that people there were using Apple’s music service to download the The Art of Peace Foundation’s Songs for Tibet compilation, featuring tracks by Alanis Morissette, Sting, Moby and 17 more artists. Profits from the album are being used to support “peace-related projects that are dear to the Dalai Lama.” As everyone already knows, China doesn’t take to kindly to people trying to free their Tibet. Exacerbating matters was the announcement that over 40 athletes at the Games had downloaded the compilation. Thus, the Great Firewall of China (we wish we can take credit for penning that) started restricting access to iTunes on Monday. The iTunes Store did open up a brick-and-mortar shop in Beijing right before the Games, but it’s doubtful they’ll be carrying Songs for Tibet. Some Chinese “netizens” are angry about Apple’s involvement with the Free Tibet campaign, calling for a boycott of not only Steve Jobs’ company, but also asking to prevent Sting, John Mayer, Dave Matthews and everybody else involved with the album from entering China.
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[Photo: Getty]