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ECNS Wire

Closure of online storage service expected to boost hard drive sales

1
2016-05-05 12:41Ecns.cn Editor: Mo Hong'e

(ECNS) -- Huawei, one of the world's largest telecom equipment makers, has followed other leading Internet companies with a plan to shut down its online data storage service, prompting a forecast of a surge in demand for portable hard drives.

At least five online data storage providers, including Tencent and Sina Weibo, plan to or have already shut down their services amid a state-backed campaign against pornography and illegal publications that started in March.

Analysts said the main reason for the closures is the difficulty in monitoring the content stored online. It is both technically challenging and costly to hire people to supervise the online data.

Zhao Zhanling, a researcher with the Intellectual Property Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said an online storage provider also violates a user's privacy by examining their data without authorization.

At the same time, Zhao said the provider is required to cooperate with investigations and held responsible for illegal content uploaded to its service.

Li Yi, an expert in the Chinese mobile Internet industry, added that online storage space has been used to spread pornography and share illegal copies of films.

He also said few providers make a profit from these services, so that may make them more willing to cooperate with the crackdown.

The shutdown is expected to fuel the sale of portable hard drives. Data from e-commerce site suning.com shows that sales of data storage devices in April doubled when compared to the same period a year ago, and rocketed by 13.35 times the sales figures of last month.

But some users also said online space can store and share massive amounts of data much more effectively than a hard drive.

  

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