"Some websites publish sensitive or confidential geographical information, which might leak State secrets and threaten security," Min said. He said those Web sites would be shut down.

On the Google Earth Blog, Frank Taylor wonders how this will affect Google. "So, what will this mean for mapping applications like Google Maps and Google Earth? Will Google be able to offer a China-sanitized version of the Google Earth layers to satisfy the Chinese authorities? They could modify the borders and remove unwanted placemarks from the Google Earth Community layers."

Taylor spoke to Google’s Michael Jones about the Chinese crack down on online maps. When asked about the China mapping application Jones said it "uses locally licensed data from reputable firms trusted by local authorities. We have no reason to expect that even the strictest enforcement of law would limit that map product in the Chinese market."

Taylor speculates that Google would make a modified version of Google Earth for Chinese users, "but I would hope they wouldn’t censor data for non-Chinese users."

VirtualTourist’s new map application, called Mapster, is a customizable world map that allows users to mark countries they have visited, lived in or want to visit.

"There are a plethora of new applications out there, but Mapster leads the charge with its unique capability as a one-stop shop," says J. R. Johnson, CEO and co-founder of VirtualTourist.

"Users can take full advantage of its functionality across the Web — whether it be on Facebook, MySpace, VirtualTourist, or their own blogs — and then any changes and updates they make to their map are pushed out to every website that hosts their map."

VirtualTourist’s Mapster can be created on VirtualTourist.com and Facebook. Customized maps can be exported to any Web page that allows HTML coding.

"Many of VirtualTourist’s web-savvy travelers also have a Facebook account, and those on Facebook who are not already on VirtualTourist can take advantage of a cool new tool to share with their online friends, without any strings attached," Johnson said.