China to Tighten the InternetA draft on a decision to safeguard Internet security and information security issued by the State Council has stimulated a heated debate among Chinese law makers on curbing crimes on the Internet.In a panel discussion on the draft held there today, members of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, extended their concerns for the rampant illegal activities on the Internet. Law makers held that with the rapid advance of the Internet, a number of problems related to national security, social stability and public interest have surfaced on the Internet. Therefore, it is considered of vital importance to enact laws to regulate the Internet with China's on-line population about to multiply in the near future. Wu Zengrong, a prestigious lawyer and a member of the NPC Standing Committee, said more stringent measures should be stipulated because Internet crimes involve high-intelligence and high-jeopardy and are difficult to discover. Wu suggested that the State should allocate special funds to develop software on controlling information on the Internet. Liu Yiming, a renowned physicist and member of the NPC Standing Committee, was indignant over the willful dissemination of harmful information on the Internet by illegal organizations and surfers, citing that he, more often than not, is busy clearing fake ads, rumors and slogans appearing in his mailbox everyday. As for domain name registration, Liu proposed that the draft stipulate that criminal penalties should go to those who register a certain domain name with a purpose to seek illegitimate interest or competitive edges. Yu Enguang, a member of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, said that some foreign-based organizations use the Internet to spread rumors on sensitive issues to conduct subversive and infiltrating activities against China. To prevent such activity, the State should take various measures, including the recruiting of experts to make technological breakthroughs in the area. Yu also held that the State should make more use of the Internet to introduce to the world the policies and latest development of China. The legislators also discussed some other issues, such as stipulating specific measures on the supervision system of e-commerce and taxation on the net. The legislators agreed that the draft, although on its first review, is feasible and proposed to put the amendments to the vote at the on-going 18th meeting of the NPC Standing Committee. |
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