ABSTRACT
In 2006, e gao (literally translated as “reckless doings”) emerged within the Chinese cyberspace as a cultural phenomenon, which generally includes all types of audiovisual spoofs, oft-times by taking advantage of the transformative capability of digital technology as well as the distribution power of the Internet. A good indication of the pervasiveness of this new phenomenon is the hundreds and thousands of results you would get once typing in e gao in any Chinese-language search engine. Indeed, according to a survey jointly conducted by China Youth Daily and Tencent.com,1 only 1.8 percent of the 6,290 participants were unaware of this new vocabulary by September 2006. What is parallel to the growing popularity of spoof culture is the escalating efforts made by both the state and some private parties to regulate such content based on various concerns, ranging from alleged moral degradation to copyright infringement. By the end of 2007, both the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the Ministry of Culture had issued regulations aiming to curb the spread of online video spoofs. The release of new regulations not only drew wide press coverage on mainstream newspapers, but also provoked extensive debates on the Internet with regard to the legitimacy and feasibility of such rules.
