WSJ, 15 February 1996: China Tells Internet Users To Register With Police Beijing (AP) - China ordered all users of the Internet and other international computer networks to register with the police, as part of an effort to tighten control over information. The order came in a circular issued by the Ministry of Public Security, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Xinhua didn't give a date by which current users must register but said new users and those switching or terminating services must inform police within 30 days. It was unclear how foreigners would be affected. The rules haven't been published in detail, but previous Xinhua reports warned network users not to harm national security, reveal state secrets or disseminate pornography. China embarked on a broad crackdown on Internet users and other sources of information potentially harmful to government interests in December. The Ministry of Post Telecommunications was made the sole provider of channels connecting Chinese computer users with international networks. ----- Financial Times, 15 February, 1996 Cyberlaws [Editorial] Communication *sans frontieres*. To the Internet's fans that is the essence of its appeal. But to anyone putting information on the Internet's World Wide Web, its global nature is the cause of a growing headache: how to uphold intellectual property rights to the rivers of information pouring over its wires. Online computer systems such as the Net are among the fastest growing ways to distribute information -- music and pictures as well as words and numbers. But existing copyright laws deal inadequately with digital transmission. Regulation is complicated by the way that information downloaded in one country can have originated almost anywhere in the world. The $35bn-a-year music industry now believes that digital copyright abuse is a big future threat to its revenues. The century-old Berne convention on copyright and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade represent a degree of international agreement on the treatment of such issues. However, many countries are not signatories, while standards of intellectual property protection vary widely among those which have signed. Moreover, there are technological problems in enforcing agreements even where they exist. At present, it is often difficult to identify both those who have accessed information, and those who have entered it on the Net. Given that problem, some groups want companies providing Internet access to be responsible for upholding rules, rather than users or publishers. But this is highly unattractive: service providers will be unaware of much on the Net. The currently imperfect state of protection is one reason why much cyberinformation is junk, of value to almost nobody, deposited partly to stir up interest in paidfor services beyond the Net. However, new ways to restrict access to parts of the Net, and to charge for subscriptions to that information, may address that shortcoming. Companies are also working on "electronic tags" which will show whether information is passed to unauthorised users. If such technological developments bear fruit, the whole game may change. The mainstay of the Internet may no longer be information already published in another medium. Instead, publishers could put material of real value on the Net, knowing they would be paid. Other media may be squeezed as the Internet assumes some of their role. In this respect, copyright problems are a symptom of the Internet's immaturity, rather than a sign that electronic sophistication has made regulation impossible. The Net itself is a creation of technology, not policy, and the solutions to this problem are more likely to be technological than legal. But solutions must be found if the Net is to realise its enormous commercial potential. ----- FT has a front page article on what China may do if the US imposes sanctions for copyright violations. It includes overtures by the Chinese to Britain to reap the benefits of shutting down US businesses in retaliation. Noting the well-oiled handover of Hong Kong to China as an example of the mutual benefits of imperialist most- favored status, and sharing tips and tricks of crackdown on civil disorder.