An increasing number of Chinese websites and Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) are signing a " self-discipline pact" designed to
prevent cyber crime, the spread of harmful information and
unhealthy competition, sources within the country's booming
Internet sector said.
According to a China Internet Association official, the pact
explicitly bans signatories from producing, releasing or spreading
material "harmful to national security and social stability" or "
in violation of the law".
The signatories also are responsible for advising Internet surfers
to "use the web in a civilized way" and "avoid any content that
breaches others' intellectual property rights", the official
added.
The pact, initiated on March 16 by the Beijing-based China Internet
Association, a national self-governing body for the country's
Internet sector, was first signed by a group of leading websites
and Internet companies in Beijing.
In
the following few months, major Internet companies in such
provinces as Guizhou, Fujian, Liaoning and Hubei have followed
suit.
In
north China's major city of Tianjin, where 22 local websites and
ISPs have just signed the pact, an official of the local
telecommunications administration said signing the pact was
voluntary but only legally registered Internet companies were
eligible to sign.
According to the latest statistics, by April this year China had
38.52 million Internet users and nearly 280,000 websites with over
13 million computers having access to the Internet.
(China
Daily July 5, 2002)