Three overseas VPN service providers, Astrill, Witopia and StrongVPN apologized Thursday that their service to residents in the Chinese mainland has been blocked due to a recent upgrade of the GWF.
Astrill claimed that most VPN protocols have been blocked, and that many foreign companies have been influenced.
Fang Binxing, designer of the GFW, told the Global Times Thursday he did not know of any upgrade to the firewall. "As far as I know, companies running a VPN business in China must register with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. I haven't heard that any foreign companies have registered," Fang said.
Unregistered VPN service providers are not protected by Chinese laws, and any company running a VPN business should realize they have a responsibility to register, he said.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/750158.shtml