Rules issued to ensure Internet safety
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-31 09:39

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced in Beijing Thursday that China is to carry out new Internet regulation starting from March 1, 2006 to prevent computer virus spreading, harmful junk e-mails and organized bawdry online activities.

The regulation specifies that Internet service-providers are liable to safeguard the Internet security and the police should supervise all providers.

A series of Internet-based technologies including monitoring computer systems and recording such information as the logon time and the browsed websites are standardized according to the regulation.

The regulation also states that any online safeguarding technique should not be used to infringe upon the individuals' freedom and privacy and at least two members of the police should be at scene when inspecting suspects.

China's Internet-based safeguarding technologies is somewhat backward and are not implemented properly, with no more than 25 percent of the existing safeguarding methods applied by Internet users, said Wu Heping, spokesman with the MPS, at a news briefing on a nationwide campaign of cracking down on-line porn.

Online obscene video chats, gambling and frauds have become serious crimes in recent years and are still rising, said Wu.

From September to November, Chinese public security authoritiesshut down 598 porn websites and wiped out 35 porn domain names, and all the discovered porn websites in China have been closed as of today, according Wu.

More than 80 percent of the domestic computers were once infected by virus annually in recent years and the daily junk mails flowing to domestic users exceeds 60 million, making China agiant country of sending and receiving junk mails, he said.

Currently, China's Internet users numbers more than 100 million,ranking the second globally. Internet is one of the important parts of Chinese people's life but porn online contents, junk mails and the spread of computer virus have seriously damaged Internet users' legitimate rights.

Together with the Information Office of the State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry, MPS launched a nationwide campaign on cracking down Internet porn like on-line video chatting in September this year.

One MPS official said the public are encouraged to report any online activity violating laws or code of conducts through phones or an official websites net.china.cn.