http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAW7UI5MWC.html
China Orders Internet Providers to
Screen E-Mail, Use Less Foreign
Software
By Martin FacklerAssociated Press Writer
Published: Jan 18, 2002
BEIJING (AP) - China has issued its most intrusive Internet controls to
date, ordering service providers to screen private e-mail for political content and
holding them responsible for subversive postings on their Web sites.
The new rules, posted earlier this week on the Web site of the Ministry of
Information Industry, represent Beijing's latest efforts to tighten its grip on the
only
major medium in China not already under state control.
The regulations also create new difficulties for a competitive industry trying to
attract more overseas investment.
Foreign software makers must now guarantee in writing that their products do not
contain hidden programs that would allow spying or hacking into Chinese
computers. The rules also require computers playing an important role in Chinese
networks to use only domestic software.
Many in the industry had hoped for a more liberal climate following China's entry
into the World Trade Organization. But the rules pointed to Beijing's resolve to
keep the Web from being used to spread opposition to Communist Party rule.
Under the new rules, general portal sites must install security programs to screen
and copy all e-mail messages sent or received by users. Those containing
"sensitive materials" must be turned over to authorities.
Providers are also responsible for erasing all prohibited content posted on their
Web sites, including online chatrooms and bulletin boards.
The new rules include a long list of banned content prohibiting writings that reveal
state secrets, hurt China's reputation or advocate the overthrow of communism,
ethnic separatism or "evil cults."
The last category covers the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which has frequently
resorted to the Internet to defy a harsh two-year crackdown.
Pornography and violence are also prohibited.
Authorities have struggled to deal with the Internet since it took off in China in
the
mid-1990s. They want to prevent it from becoming a forum for political discontent
without harming its value to business and education.
China issued its first guidelines on Internet content in late 2000, requiring
providers to monitor online chatrooms and bulletin boards and keep records of
users' viewing times, addresses and telephone numbers.
In a country where other major media only mouth the party line, the Internet is
often a lively site of impassioned debate. When a fireworks explosion at a
southern Chinese school killed dozens of children last year, a flurry of postings
criticized the official version blaming a lone bomber and repeated foreign news
reports that teachers had forced the children to make firecrackers.
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Yeah sure chop chop whatever -just give us access to your billion consumers
