End of 2005 marks the enforcement of the ICP license and recordal requirements. This time, it seems they really mean it.
In my previous story, I outlined the requirements for the registration for website. The first requirement came out in the year of 2000, and asks all website with a domain name to file registration with detailed information with the government. Nothing happened after the deadline.
In 2002, it was said to be enforced again. Nothing happened.
All the websites are in an environment that the law and regulation requires all site registration unrealistically from the year of 2000. The whole five years was under the pressure but not too much action. 2005 is different.
In the year 2005, it is announced that all websites need registration. This time, it seems it will be enforced. At the end of the year, especially recent two weeks, many websites were shutdown.
The homepage of the www.net.cn, the largest virtual server provider in China pops up the following notice:
Image in courtesy of www.net.cn
It explained the reason why their client’s website were shutdown – because no registration license was found on the home page – it was required by the regulation. The service providers are required to pause the service. This requirement was there for 5 years and these two weeks are the starting point of the real enforcement.
In Shanghai particularly, the network service is very unstable. The backbone network stops function from time to time. Many ADSL users were affected. For several minutes every few hours, Internet seems not accessible at all. I am confused whether the websites are down or just the network infrastructure. For example, the MSN Messenger will logoff for no reason and after sometime reconnects. It is the same for my friends. I bet the MSN Server receives much more logout (lost connection) or logon request these days from Shanghai. Beijing seems not impact from the network failure.
Anyway, the end of 2005 is not a happy ending. The network blocking and shutting websites added a lot of stress to the atmosphere of the new year. It is annoying, very annoying.
Haha, Mr. Wang, I seem to remember that in one of your post of last month you have said “I don’t want to comment on this” and was quite furious with BBC quoting your above statement.
What makes you suddenly changed your mind to comment this as “annoying, very annoying”? Haha
Well. I don’t shy away of talking the FACT that there is much censorship going on in China. It is not the first time. It is one of the many articles I posted about what I see in my daily life. Fact is more important than judgement.
In my previous article on the BBC, I just feel not comfortable to be cut out of the context to support their view. The reason I was not comfortable is not about the topic of censorship, it is about using one sentence out of 30 minute conversation about another topic. Censorship is just like air that everyone can feel it, there is no doubt about it. However I want to talk about in my way, not BBC’s way. I want to talk about what I personally see or feel with my own eyes instead of talking about something heard from news, either from news in China or foreign news. Actually, I don’t want to talk about the BBC issue again, since they posted another article on their homepage and claimed something like “Jian Shuo Wang said there is no censorship in China”. It is another case of taking a sentence out of the context. It is the point of view I don’t agree but I cannot argue to the major public that I didn’t mean. So, I didn’t change much. It’s all about understanding.
The banner of google adense is too long, we should drag the sidebar two times to see the context. I checked it in IE and Firefox, and I think there are some wrong with the CSS style!
I think there is a difference between bureaucratic regulations and censorship. They may coexist and may help each other but they are two different concepts.
bigbro, I agree with you on this point.
Not a happy ending,I agree.Last week I heard LIUS will be closed,whose host is one of your foreign friend Edward.And through LIUS,I knew you and grew up a habit to look around your website.And a lot of websites were blocked last week.
我是中国博客网的(http://www.blogcn.com/)，想跟客齐集谈点合作，主要是利用博客日记多点传播的渠道优势来发布客齐集的特定分类信息（博客主人可选定主题/地域/etc.）。建硕同志如果认识客齐集里面管合作的某位同志，有劳百忙中相告，不胜感激。email: jinmh@blogcn.com
Julien, I have replied your email. Thanks.
I am also one of those being shut down. Wrote a post yesterday but can’t find a trackback address from your blog. Here is the link:http://richardh.512j.com/?p=109
Hi Jian Shuo, i suppose you’ve sent the mail to one of these two mail addresses: ‘jinmh@blogcn.com’ & ‘julienjin@gmail.com’ which i’ve included in my post. but i’m sorry to tell you that i checked my mailbox many times and i still couldn’t find it. so could you please send me again that mail which is very important to me and to kijiji’s BD perhaps. just imagine people could submit and read classified infos directly from millions of blogs~
Julien, I replied your email to me and sent another email to the email you left in your first comment. I tried for the third time. However, if you still cannot find it, call me. I guess you can find my mobile number.
One of my favorite Shanghai websites, Shanhai Bus Net ( http://www.shanghaibus.net/ ), has been inconsistently up and down for the past two weeks because they did not follow their host’s registration procedure:
> 如果您访问网站见到此提示并 且网站并未过期，则说明您的网站因为未提交备案申请而被管理员暂停。
Very, very annoying
Does anybody here have problems connecting to haiguinet.com. I’ve not been able to visit it since yestoday.
Hi Jianshuo,
Your story is interesting. Have you ever considered boycotting such barbarious government regulations? Anyway, keep your humor and spirit… Someday in future, maybe in a decade or two, justice and freedom will be restored.
However, China never had any experience in freedom and justice so far….
Jianshuo, your server is in China (www.net.cn), I suggest you to open an account in either US or Canada. In both countries you have relatives and/or friends, and it can be amintained from China. Then you will not have these annoying problems.
As long as you avoid anything with child abuse and Nazi-propaganda, everything will be ok.
Yesterday the internet was down again for some time in the evening here in Shanghai.
Wonder what they are really doing…
However, China never had any experience in freedom and justice so far….
Jianshuo, your server is in China (www.net.cn) – I suggest you to open an account in either US or Canada. In both countries you have relatives and/or friends, and it can be maintained from China. Then you will not have these annoying problems.
As long as you avoid anything with child abuse and Nazi-propaganda, everything will be ok.
Yesterday the internet was down again for some time in the evening here in Shanghai.
Wonder what “they” are really doing…