David Hanak Welcome to our daily column, where we recap the biggest (and not only) IT and tech stories that happened in the last 24 hours that we feel you should know about.
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Valve is indeed preparing a censored Steam client for China
Valve first announced work on a special Chinese client for its Steam service in 2018. Now, this modified and censored client has entered the alpha testing phase. Steam is not officially available in China. However, given how huge a market it is, it's very attractive for Valve to get its game-buying platform to millions of Chinese players. However, as with other services that want to operate in China, Steam must take specific measures to comply with the country's legislation and rules set by the ruling Communist Party - in other words, the client needs to be modified and censored so that it does not contain anything that could unsettle the communist leaders in any way, or, God forbid, put them in a negative light.
For example, one of the specifics of the Chinese client is that a five-second notification appears at the start of each game containing several hints and lessons for the player (see below). Another change is the anonymization of all information on individual Steam profiles. Profile images and names are missing, instead there is a default image with a question mark and instead of the name, the user's numerical code. Images and usernames will first need to be approved by local authorities before they can be used. Chinese users will have to wait a while for their profile photos and nicknames, and their Steam profiles should be linked to their own personal ID. Another change is that Valve is quite obviously cooperating with the Chinese authorities, as the modified Steam client does not allow games to be launched at a specially defined time, which is prohibited by a government regulation announced last year. For example, CS:GO cannot be started between 10 pm and 8 am. The same restrictions apply to the title DOTA 2, for example. There is no time limit for other games. With this move, Valve joins other companies that significantly retreat or fundamentally change their services just to be allowed to enter the Chinese market.
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In the end, Huawei will not participate in the further construction of 5G networks in Great Britain
We have already written several times in connection with the construction of 5G networks in Great Britain. Whether it was spreading misinformation about the 5G signal causing the coronavirus, or destroying 5G transmitters out of concern for the above. Now it appears that the UK has finally caved to US pressure, and the ruling Conservative Party is pushing for Huawei to be cut out of any activities related to building 5G infrastructure in the country. By 2023, all elements from Huawei should disappear from the entire telecommunications infrastructure. According to the British media, the reason for this attitude is concerns about national security. The US has been warning against Huawei for a long time, but the politicians of individual countries have different attitudes towards this position. Some perceive it as a legitimate concern for national security in the framework of critical infrastructure, while others, on the contrary, point out that it is only an element of the US-China trade war. In the USA, Huawei is not allowed to participate in any telecommunications projects, and American companies are prohibited from using any foreign products for the construction of data or telecommunications infrastructure.
Formula E driver cheated in online racing
The current crisis has also affected motorsport, and fans of various racing series are having a hard time. However, due to the impossibility of racing on real tracks, individual series have taken the opportunity and at least broadcast virtual races. For example, in Formula 1, virtual racing is quite popular, mainly due to the fact that young and promising pilots have become popular streamers on the Twitch platform overnight. Formula E has also had its e-racing behind it, which has now attracted attention thanks to the fraud of one of the competitors. It turned out that he cheated during one of the virtual races. Daniel Abt, who races for the Audi Sport ABT team in the Formula E series, has had professional e-sim racer Lorenz Hoerzing race in his place. He performed far better in the virtual race than the real driver, which raised a number of questions. During the investigation of the case, it was finally revealed that Hoerzing, who won the race for Abt, was actually behind the virtual wheel. He was disqualified from the series of virtual races for the fraud, and must also pay a fine of 10 euros.
Thanks for the info, great article!