Chinese mandarins have allowed Apple's glorious iTunes to continue to function behind the bamboo curtain, but access to the Free Tibet album that sparked the ruckus is blocked.

Apple seems to have bowed down to Chinese demands that the site remove the "Songs for Tibet," an album released by the Art of Peace Foundation, from those with a Chinese IP address. The album features music from the popular beat combo artists Sting, Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette, along with a 15-minute speech by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile.

An Apple spokeswoman acknowledged that the service is now available in China. Amazon.com and Google's YouTube video service already ban access to the album for Chinese users.