CHINA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 2, No. 1 -January 02, 2001
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- ISP’s Business up as Access Charges Drop
- Shanghai Opens First Online Bank
- Domain Names across the Strait to be Unified
- Sohu.com Loses in Beijing Court over Web-page Link
- China to Determine Third Generation Mobile Phone Standards
ISP’s Business up as Access Charges Drop
Many Chinese Internet service providers (ISPs) are showing signs of growth thanks to a sharp decrease in Internet access fees, analysts said.
Beginning in late November, several domestic ISPs began a price war on Internet access fees. Battling firms include 263.net, ReadChina.com, A-1.net and East.net. Slashing prices is part of a new strategy to attract users instead of pouring money into advertising.
Recent surveys from the China National Network Information Center (CNNIC) indicated that a lack of sufficient Internet content, slow surfing speed and high access fees have long been major hurdles for the country's Internet industry.
Mao Wei, director of CNNIC, said lowering the access fees would contribute substantially to encouraging more individuals to surf the Internet.
CNNIC figures showed that by the end of June, online users totaled 16.9 million. That number is expected to reach 20 million by the end of this year.
Industry experts said the decline of access fees could be attributed to the government's continuous efforts to lower telecom services fees.
Late last month, Liu Cai, director of the Policy and Regulation Department of the Ministry of Information Industry, reiterated that a telecom price adjustment would soon be announced and most service charges would be substantially lowered or cancelled entirely.
Many believe that the step is designed to make the Internet more available to individuals and to introduce more competitors in view of China’s impending World Trade Organization (WTO) entry.
With WTO entry expected soon, building a sound development environment is of paramount importance for all Internet-based service providers, said Xie Xiaoxia, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(Source: People’s Daily, China Daily)
Shanghai Opens First Online Bank
The "95599 Online Bank", the first of its kind, recently opened in Shanghai. To computerize its financial services, the Agricultural Bank of China has initiated the online bank. China Worldbest Group Co. Ltd., Shanghai Volkswagen and other large enterprises based in Shanghai have registered as the first corporate clients of the online bank.
The site has online financial information such as interest rates of deposits and loans of Renminbi and foreign currencies, and services such as reporting lost deposit receipts and account books. Large cash withdrawals can also be booked online in advance. Corporate and individual clients of the Agricultural Bank of China can also enjoy comprehensive financing services, including account balance information, transferring capital and buying treasury bonds.
The online banking service marks a breakthrough for the Agricultural Bank of China. If the Shanghai online bank is successful, the Agricultural Bank of China will make the 95599 online bank available to the whole country.
(Source: People’s Daily)
Domain Names across the Strait to be Unified
The China National Network Information Center (CNNIC) and the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) have recently reached a preliminary consensus on harmonizing the two region’s Chinese-language domain name registration. To do so, a two-way system of transferring between traditional Chinese characters and the simplified ones must be devised and implemented.
The two sides proposed to register the domain names in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters. The proofreading and correction work for code transferring of the simplified and traditional Chinese characters were scheduled to be finished by December 17.
(Source: People’s Daily)
Sohu.com Loses in Beijing Court over Web-page Link
The Beijing Evening News reported that a Beijing court has ordered Sohu.com to issue an apology and pay a fine in a copyright dispute.
The well-known China portal was ordered by the Intellectual Property Division of the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court to apologize and pay RMB 3,000 (about US$ 400) to Liu Jingsheng for not answering his copyright infringement protest.
In October, Mr. Liu found three Internet links on Sohu’s web pages to Web pages of his translation of Don Quixote. Mr. Liu notified Sohu that he believed these links violated his copyright because they were posted without authorization. Sohu did not respond by the end of November, so Mr. Liu filed suit for copyright infringement.
The court said Sohu encouraged infringement by not responding to Mr. Liu or removing the links. However, the court did not find Sohu liable for copyright infringement.
(Source: Beijing Evening News)
China to Determine Third Generation Mobile Phone Standards
The Chinese government is shaping its future regarding the next generation of mobile telecommunications technology.
Since current mobile telecommunications technologies have been dominated by foreign companies, domestic firms are seeking a presence in the third-generation (3G) mobile telecom system.
In co-operation with Siemens AG, China Telecom submitted its own TD-SCDMA (time division-synchronous multiple access) standard to the International Telecommunications Union in June, 1998.
The ITU accepted the proposal late last year, paving the way for China to further develop its own 3G standard.
However, the dominant standards worldwide are Europe-favored WCDMA (wide-band CDMA) and US-supported CDMA 2000.
China’s mobile telecom network is now dominated by the global system of mobile communications (GSM), supported by European companies including Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens.
Experts say China is likely to adopt two main standards for its future 3G development, its own TD-SCDMA and Europe's WCDMA.
The advent of third generation mobile technology not only raises issues of choosing a standard, it demands administrative determinations about how to license 3G service operations.
Information Industry Minister Wu Jichuan has ruled out auctioning 3G licenses, as is done in Europe. Wu said the government is trying to avoid disrupting the market. The administration favors a rational distribution of 3G licenses to domestic operators, he said.
Experts say the high prices 3G licenses go for are eventually passed onto consumers.
The licenses will probably be granted to four telecom operators, including China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom.
3G mobile telephone technology has a transmission speed nearly 40 times faster than at present, allowing mobile phones to be used more like computers, with the capacity to access the Internet and even display video.
The new standards are expected to open the door for "m-commerce", in which microchips inside mobile phones allow them to be used like debit cards to pay for anything from monthly rent to taxi rides and vending machines.
(Source: People’s Daily, China Daily)
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