[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Anonymous) writes:
> 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.
>
> .... Yeah sure chop chop whatever -just give us access to your billion
> consumers
