The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center has released the latest list of “vulgar content” offenders (in Chinese). This time, Google (GOOG) escaped mention–but Yahoo (YHOO) China and a popular real-estate portal, Soufun, did not.

The list referred to user-generated content on a section of Yahoo China’s Web site called “Yahoo Space,” which is not currently in operation. But a subsequent notice released today by the center said remnants of the “vulgar” content from Yahoo Space could still be found in other parts of Yahoo’s portal.

The Web sites “didn’t continue to follow the government’s call to effectively crack down on vulgar content and information on the Internet, and relaxed supervision of their Web sites, which ultimately led to the appearance of a lot of vulgar content, which is against social morals and does harm to the physical and mental health of the youth,” the center said in a notice. “Such behavior…has led to the anger of our public and should be strongly condemned.”

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A provocative story from Reuters Monday ruminated on which companies are likely to replace Citigroup (C) and General Motors (GM) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its conclusion: Google (GOOG) and Cisco (CSCO) are the most likely contenders, with Apple (AAPL) and Visa (V) having a less likely chance.

It’s a safe bet that those two troubled companies–trading below $2 a share–will get the boot, potentially along with Bank of America (BAC), which is trading below $4. All are plagued by concerns that bankruptcies or government takeovers would wipe out shareholders. Talk of a reshuffling of the Dow has been heating up of late.

Does Google belong in the Dow? I think it does for a few reasons. According to Dow Jones’ explanation of the indexes composition, “a stock typically is added only if it has an excellent reputation, demonstrates sustained growth, is of interest to a large number of investors and accurately represents the sector(s) covered by the average.”

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The first time I saw a lolcat–those funny images of felines with grammatically questionable captions–it took me a minute to understand the joke.

“What’s with the misspellings?” I wrote the friend who’d IM’d me the link. “Cats are dumb and can’t spell?”

“Pretty much,” my friend replied.

“And they have bad grammar?” I wrote, still processing the idea.

“Yes,” he wrote. “Get it?”

I did. In fact, I couldn’t stop laughing.

By now, even the most casual observers of the Internet are aware that lolcats have become a certifiable Internet phenomenon. Their flagship site, Icanhascheezburger.com, is one of Web 2.0’s big success stories–on track to top a billion page views this year–and its content is entirely user-generated.

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Watch out, distributors of premium content online, a 900-pound gorilla named YouTube just crept into the room. For the past few years, the service has become far and away the world’s most popular online video platform on the backs of its user-generated content and often legally questionable copyrighted material. But now the service may be close to gaining the ultimate content, legally: Feature films.

At least one of the big Hollywood studios is said to be on board with putting its content on YouTube, sources tell CNET. This could happen as soon as within the next 90 days, and possibly even within the month, the source says.

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The problem with running a site that relies heavily on users to generate content is that it puts a disproportionate amount of power in the hands of those users (in relation to the site owners). If users are unhappy with something about the way a site that relies on user-generated content is run, they can theoretically hold the site hostage until they get what they want. This week, eBay sellers unhappy with the auction giant’s recent change in listing prices and policy launched a week-long boycott of the site. So far, the impact appears negligible, but the action highlights a risk that any business that relies on a UGC-centric model takes.

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