I just ran across this news item while looking for local reaction to Team USA's drubbing of Australia's basketball team. From the Sydney Morning Herald comes a report that China has blocked some expats' access to iTunes because Olympics athletes were given free downloads to the recently released Songs for Tibet compilation.

The album, called Songs for Tibet, was produced by an a group called The Art of Peace Foundation, and features 20 tracks from well-known singers and songwriters including Sting, Moby, Suzanne Vega and Alanis Morissette.

It was released as a download on the iTunes Store on August 5 - three days before the start of the Olympics - with the physical CD launched on Tuesday this week.

The Foundation provided free downloads of the album to Olympic athletes, urging them to play the songs on their iPods during the Games as a show of support. ...

On Monday, expatriate iTunes users living in China began experiencing technical problems with their previously unfettered access. ...

Although some iTunes account-holders suggest that the problem is with Apple, according to several forum posters and bloggers working in China, the source of the technical hitch is being attributed to the Great Firewall of China - the umbrella term given to China's system of internet censorship.

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