Netflix taunts North Korea on-demand TV service on Twitter
Netflix is poking fun at North Korea's recent foray into on-demand TV, calling itself a "Manbang knockoff" on its Twitter bio. The tongue-in-cheek change to the Netflix US bio comes after Pyongyang proudly unveiled a video streaming service called Manbang ("Everywhere"), which was instantly described as a Netflix-style service by Western media. The system allows viewers with some sort of Internet access to enjoy the highly-propagandised output of its four state-run TV channels at their leisure. A programme introducing the service that aired on Korean Central Television (KCTV) last week said it was available to any institute, company or household that subscribes to North Korea's state-operated intranet. The number of intranet subscribers in North Korea is unknown, but KCTV said "hundreds" of people had signed up to the Manbang service in Sinuiju -- one of three cities where the system is being rolled out. Set up in 2000, the intranet only allows access to selected, government-approved websites and mostly functions as a communication platform between government agencies, universities, industry and commerce. Outside of hotels catering to foreigners, access to the full-blown internet in North Korea is for the super-elite only -- a few hundred people or maybe 1,000 at most.
