Google is shutting down its operation in China this April, according to Chinese media. The company’s own statement regarding the issue is said to be released sometime next week.

Google has already threatened to shut down their services in the country after discovering cyber attacks and infringements in Gmail accounts belonging to Chinese human rights activists.

The intrusions is one of many issues that has increased the tension in the fields of diplomacy and trade between the US and China. Google also received a lot of criticism after accepting Chinese demands and installing a filter function on Google.cn.

I guess that all we can do now is to sit and wait till we hear from Google next week.

I just recently wrote a short post about YouTube entering the rental market with five indie movies that was showcased at the Sundance movie festival. So, how did it go? Hmmm… I don’t think a total view of 2,684 views netting a total of $10,709.16 can be seen as a great success. That’s a shame as I thought that this could be the start of something very good.

Perhaps needless to say but I don’t think these numbers will scare companies such as Netflix and Amazon. YouTube however claims that they were very happy with the test but I just can’t see what they have to be happy over. That it worked? Well, that shouldn’t be the most difficult thing a company that’s already streaming videos. Sure, they weren’t blockbuster movies YouTube has millions of users and now we’re talking about a mere 2,684 views. The future of their rental service is difficult to predict but I sincerely hope that this wasn’t the last we will hear about it.

Youtube, who made a name for themselves by offering free streaming videos, made a step, although small, towards the rental market. They have a long way to go before they will be able to compete on the same level as Netflix but it’s still an important step that is well worth noticing.

At the moment Youtube, who is owned by Google, will begin with only offering five movies and they are not of the blockbuster type. They are not even old forgotten classics. They are something much better – at least according to a movie geek like me. The films that will be up for rental are part of this year’s, or was part of last year’s, Sundance Film Festival so expect something that is a bit more independent than say Avatar. You’d better be quick if you want to try out this service as the movies will be available for a limited period, from Friday 22nd to the end of the Festival which is January 31.

It’ll be interesting to see how this service gets received by the users. If a success I guess that Google will put even more efforts into getting the full version launched as soon possible. Youtube has already held discussions with many of the major studios so in the future I guess that it will be possible to watch all your favorite Mel Gibson movies as well and not only the ones made by directors with unpronounceable names.