Under regulations from 1993, private individuals in China are not allowed to install satellite television reception equipment. However, companies have appeared recently claiming that they are authorized to perform such installations. Monday's Legal Mirror reports that many of these companies do possess authorization to perform satellite equipment installation, but only for authorized work units, and that the State Administration of Radio Film and Television will continue to root out illegal private installations when they are found (one wonders at this point how Shanghai's 2002 campaign to eliminate illegal dishes turned out).

What is odd about the Mirror article is that it hardly seems designed to dissuade citizens from installing their own sets; in fact, it functions as a sort of consumer guide to selecting an installation. The central graphic lists prices and available channels for each of three possible private installations, and various people are quoted extolling the variety of programming and giving hints on finding cheaper installation (1200 yuan for a quoted price of 2800).

An attempt to present balance tries hard to find someone dissatisfied with satellite TV, but only comes up with a woman who is annoyed at all of the advertisements she receives from installation companies. Many of the ads push the availability of uncensored adult movies, and she admits, "there must be a reason the country has prohibited personal satellite television."

A representative of SARFT, brought in to explain that reason, doesn't come across so well: "In receiving signals directly from outside channels, not only is the content unfiltered, but normal signal reception can be disrupted." This is all for the sake of the children, of course - certain outside programs can have an extremely harmful influence on children's growth.

In fact, the article is well written and doesn't advocate either way. By failing to quote the "socialist spiritual civilization" language of the 1993 regulation, the article remains objective and allows the absurdity of the ban to reveal itself.

And with the penalty for individuals fixed by the 1993 regulation at no more than 5000 yuan, set against a mere 1500 sets confiscated in a campaign in Beijing during March and April of last year, it doesn't seem like anyone will decide against satellite TV on the basis of this article.

Links and Sources:
Legal Mirror article [Chinese]
SARFT Regulation