China Law Boosts Cyberspace Controls

Fri., Dec. 29, 2000

China’s legislature on Thursday passed a law against online subversion, ratifying the communist government’s sweeping efforts to extend its political controls into cyberspace.

The measure also makes it illegal to produce or transmit computer viruses or to break into military computer networks, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The law adds to mounting efforts to regulate online activity after a period when largely unregulated cyberspace offered a forum to critics of the government.

Official task forces already try to block access to Web sites deemed undesirable. Service providers are required to guard against political activity, and businesses that offer Web access without required licenses have been closed in a series of crackdowns.

Beijing already is using other laws to attack unwanted online activity. A Shanghai software entrepreneur was released earlier this year after 18 months in prison on charges that he gave e-mail addresses to dissidents abroad.

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China Law Boosts Cyberspace Controls

Jesse Tinsley

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