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Media regulation
Chongqing requires all Net users to registerPosted by Jeremy Goldkorn on Friday, July 7, 2006 at 1:53 PM
Sohu.com published a news story today titled Chongqing Public Security Burea issues new Internet registration regulations (in Chinese). The regulations require every single computer that connects to the Internet to be registered by its owner with the Public Security Bureau, the Orwellian-sounding name that China still uses to describe its police. Internet users who do not comply face fines and suspension of their Internet service. All users are required to register before October 30 this year. The reason for this absurd rule is the usual excuse of preventing Internet crime. The article mentions that Chongqing city has about one million Internet users. With computer prices going down all the time and anonymous dial up connections easily available, the cops of Chongqing are going to have to do a lot of overtime if they want this ridiculous rule to have any effect on the city's netizens. |
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Comments on Chongqing requires all Net users to register
I just hope this is a case of overzealous local party hacks and not Beijing trying this out as a test case. I think we will know one way or the other rather soon.
As a Chinese, i feel sad to hear this news.
Well, isn't it required in the US? At school, we have our own ID and password. At home, we pay for our IP address, and in public library, we show driving license before we access internet. I cannot think about a way that we escape registration here.
I agree that one difference between Chongqing and the US is one is required by local government and one required by a provider. But what is the difference in terms of registration to access.
I don't recall ever needing to show ID to access the internet at my library in the US or at an internet cafe. But, yes, registration is effectively required for homes and offices. If the US government wants to find out who owns the computer at a particular site, they can.
However, to me, this piece of news illustrates just how much the police in China are bureaucrats and not actually stopping crime and patrolling the streets. Go into any police station in China there will be plenty of police officers registering you for this or that or just standing around. Walk outside and you won't find any walking the streets. You might find some low paid security guy with no power, but not police. This rule just means more police needed for registering people, more paperwork.