China is one of the countries that practices heavy internet censorship . The government has created the infamous Great Firewall , which makes it almost impossible for Chinese users to visit websites that are blocked in the country, even if someone uses VPN services.
There are, of course, several unauthorized VPN service providers who claim to be able to bypass the Firewall and allow access to banned websites. Of course, the country's authorities are constantly looking for these providers and shutting down their services.
In fact, authorities recently arrested one of the largest providers of illegal VPN services in the city of Taizhou, China. The man, who used the pseudonym Gao, managed to earn $1.6 million by selling illegal VPN services to Chinese citizens.
As the investigation points out, the VPN services Gao sold were extremely successful in bypassing The Great Firewall and had more than 28,000 customers before he was arrested by Chinese authorities.
Chinese authorities say the estimated revenue from VPN services offered by Gao in China is more than any other provider of similar services that has been discovered.
Another man, also arrested in Pingnan for providing illegal VPN services and sentenced to 5 years in prison, had earned just $120,000 and had 8,000 customers.
Considering the size of Gao's income, as well as the number of his clients, it is very likely that his sentence will be considerably longer.
VPN services are not illegal in China, but all providers must be registered so the government can be sure they are not being used for illegal activities and of course that they are not bypassing the Great Firewall.
