Vol.2, No.10

CHINA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW NEWSLETTER

Vol. 2, No. 10 - August 06, 2001

TOPICS THIS ISSUE:

• Shanghai Develops Online City Hall
• In Spite of Accusing Message, "Code-Red" not Developed in China
• Broadband Fixed Wireless Spectrums in 5 Chinese Cities to be Auctioned
• China Telecom Accused of Providing Bogus IP Service
• Survey Shows GPRS Preferred over CDMA
• Chinese Users to be Charged for Using Email

Shanghai Develops Online City Hall

Next month in Shanghai, citizens will be able to use a new website to apply for permits and access government information. Shanghai.gov.cn is the recent creation of the Shanghai government in cooperation with Shanghai Orient Webcasting Co. Ltd., the Shanghai Information Office and a special office created to bring government affairs to citizens.

City residents will now be able to use home computers to apply for business licenses and access government policies and regulations. The site hopes to serve as a single place coordinating already established online government services.

Deputy director of the city government's general office and director of shanghai.gov.cn, Shen Ximing, said "the portal should function as both an information broadcaster and citizen service provider. Citizens will be able to solve their problems through the Internet instead of coming to our offices."

While total completion of the project is planned to be completed by 2005, the website will begin operation before the APEC summit in October held in Shanghai and citizens will be able to take full advantage of the online services by 2002.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)

In Spite of Accusing Message, "Code-Red" not Developed in China

Despite the message reading "Hacked by Chinese!" the Code-Red virus leaves behind on infected computers, Chinese experts state there is little evidence that it originated in China.

The Beijing Youth Daily reported last Wednesday that the appearance and spread of the virus indicates it did not start from China.

However, a spokeswoman for the Ruixing Computer Development Co., a tracker and manufacturer of anti-virus software, said they could not entirely eliminate the possibility of the worm beginning in China.

Code-Red damages computer systems through Microsoft's Internet Information Service (IIS), Windows NT or Windows 2000 Professional.

The virus is capable of spreading rapidly, deleting files and directories of the victim computer and filling the hard drive with Code-Red duplicates .On July 19th, over 250 000 computers were shut down in only nine hours.

Code-Red is now expected to return in a mutilated and more lethal form that scans the Internet and invades computers by taking advantage of a loophole in the Microsoft software. Infected computers join others roaming the Internet, which causes the infection and scanning rates to grow very quickly.

Although the identity of the creators of Code-Red is unknown, because of the message the virus leaves ("Welcome to www.worm.com! Hacked by Chinese!"), it is widely believed to have originated from China.

China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center said no evidence of attacks have been reported in China so far.

A spokeswoman from the Information Network Security Supervision Bureau of China's Public Security Ministry also reported there is no evidence that Code Red was created by Chinese hackers.

Fueled by recent patriotic fervor, Chinese hackers have intensified attacks. The most recent cyber war was with US hackers, owing to the early April collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter. Japanese websites have also been targeted.

China Daily's Business Weekly reported that internal attacks are also common. A recent government survey found only one quarter of computer users had not experienced a virus attack, and over half of affected users had been infected more than three times.

Jiangmin New Science Technology Co. Ltd, an anti-virus software developer in Beijing, reported that the firm daily receives hundreds of e-mails and thousands of calls for assistance.

The recent Sircam virus has infected millions of Chinese computers since it reached China on July 20th.

(Source: Agence France Presse)

Broadband Fixed Wireless Spectrums in 5 Chinese Cities to be Auctioned

The rights for the use of the 3.5 GHZ spectrums for broadband fixed wireless systems in five Chinese cites will be assigned to successful bidders, according to a notice for public bidding issued by the Wireless Radio Regulatory Bureau of the Ministry of Information Industry.

Successful bidders will receive spectrum allocations and telecom licenses in Nanjing, Xiamen, Qingdao, Wuhan and Chongqing.

The broadband wireless market in China is developing quickly now that many large enterprises are looking for alternative access methods, rather than relying on fiber or fixed line systems.

Chinese operators are already operating broadband wireless technologies such as LMDS and MMDS. These technology trials, in the 3.5, 5.0, 24-26 and 38 GHZ range, are using foreign equipment in various cities in China.

A half-day workshop concerning China's Broadband Wireless Access Market will be held during the China Telecom 2001 conference in Washington on September 5-6.

Douglas C. MacLellan, president and CEO of the MacLellan Group and the director of the Broadband Wireless Workshop advised interested parties to invest in public broadband equipment suppliers and telecommunications operators and also to establish strategic relationships with prospective license holders.

(Source: Business Wire)

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China Telecom Accused of Providing Bogus IP Service

Vice-president of China Unicom Ltd., Liu Yunjie has accused China Telecom's Internet protocol service of being a sham. Liu, referring an earlier 21dnn.com report, said, "The so-called 'IP calls' are essentially transmitted via the traditional telephone network. China Telecom has very little network-portal equipment, and it scarcely runs any IP calls through its limited number of network portals."

The Shanghai Morning Post has also reported an industry insider as admitting that most IP services in Shanghai are provided using conventional long-distance phone systems.

The recent market introduction of IP services have caused regular long-distance telephone services and corporate-leased long-distance services to suffer heavily. However, some telecom companies now are disguising surplus or idle traditional fixed-line lines as IP lines, and are thus able to obtain a larger market share.

The Ministry of Information Industry issued a notice requiring China Telecom to have at least one network portal in each province.

Liu said this is still not enough and the government should take more action to restrain fake IP services.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)

Survey Shows GPRS Preferred over CDMA

China's mobile communications operators are using new network systems to compete for the leadership of the national cell-phone market.

In a recent survey, 70% of the respondents said they prefer China Mobile's use of GPRS technology. On the other hand, only 30% responded that they would consider buying a telephone with CDMA technology utilized by China Unicom.

Introduced in only 16 provinces, the new GPRS service has already attracted more than 400,000 subscribers to China Telecom. China Unicom hopes that the CDMA network, available at the end of the year, will enjoy a subscriber base of more than 15 million in 31 provinces.

The results of the survey show that a large majority of respondents, over 88%, were familiar with the new systems, GPRS and CDMA. Over half also said they will buy a telephone using these new technologies to replace their current GSM phones.

Over 80% of the respondents said the current GSM will be withdrawn from the market, as buyers prefer the benefits of the new telephones, such as being able to access the Internet and e-mail, more personalized functions and a lower radiation rate.

(Source: Shanghai Daily News)

Chinese Users to be Charged for Using Email

Chinese Internet portals are beginning to charge user fees, for services such as e-mail that were traditionally free.

Despite the high increases in the number of people logging on the Internet when the market is at such at infant stage, Chinese Internet portals are anxious to make profits.

Jack Lin, the chief investment officer of Internet conglomerate China.com, told Reuters "if they (Chinese Internet Portals) don't start charging for the service they provide, I don't think any of them will survive in the long haul."

China.com plans to introduce user fees, including charges to access e-mail, in August.

Sina.com plans on implementing fees for services, including e-mail, before the end of the year.

Some portals, such as 163.net, already charge fees for email. Depending on the type of service, a user can spend RMB 50 - 120 (US $6-$14.50). Other websites that charge user fees are www.21.cn.net and www.263.net.

Netease.com admitted that while currently there are no plans to charge user fees, it is a possibility in the future.

Sohu.com believes because the Internet in China is still at such an early stage of development, there is no sense in charging for email. Sohu CEO Charles Zhang said, "Email is so essential."

David Cui, an analyst with Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, said "What got the Internet off the ground was the thing about people wanting to communicate with each other. And email is the most obvious part of that."

Analyst Matthew McGarvey at International Data Corp in Beijing believes that charging users for e-mail service will not create a large return. "It certainly doesn't hurt," he said. "But by no means can they turn it into a substantial revenue flow."

Lin admitted that China.com will lose some users to rivals when the new fees are introduced, but he believes that rivals will then face pressure to impose fees as they are flooded with capacity-craving users.

(Source: Lateline News)

 

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