reuters

The Herald Tribune, 05/02/1996

BEIJING - The government issued new rules on Sunday to regulate links to the Internet, ordering all existing computer networks to liquidate and reregister and banning pornography

and political content.

The provisions signed by Prime Minister Li Peng on Jan. 23 regulate an industry that had been racing out of control through numerous administrative and legal loopholes.

Under the new rules published by the official Xinhua a news agency, on-line services must use international channels provided by the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications to

hook up to overseas networks.

All existing Intemet service providers, after liquidation, will be subject to management by the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications, the Ministry of Electronics Industry, the State Education Commission and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. New Intemet companies are to be subject to approval by the cabinet.

The regulation takes effect immediately, and increases the

power of the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications, which has been eager to expand its authority, while setting limits on

organizations offering Intemet access.

The rules ban organizations and individuals from activities violating state security or secrets laws - a sign of official nervousness about the entry of political information. The rules also forbid the production, retrieval or spreading of pornographic or subversive materials.

In high-level meetings in recent weeks, the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications had asserted its right to control such networks, saying that the state would otherwise lose

control over incoming content.

Chinanet, the main national Internet service, has temporarily suspended new memberships in Shanghai and

Beijing, the two cities were it operates.

Officials have denied the move has anything to do with censorship or screening, saying it is aimed at buying time to bring badly needed improvements to an already overloaded system.