CHINA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4, No. 6 - April 15, 2003
VISIT LLX AT INTA International Trademark Association 125th Annual Meeting 2003
May 3 - 7 in Amsterdam
RAI International Exhibition & Congress Centre LEHMAN, LEE & XU welcomes you to participate in the following: 3rd ANNUAL CHINA BRAND OWNERS BRUNCH - May 4, 11:00am to 2:00pm at the Nam Tin Chinese restaurant, Amsterdam. Start the 125th INTA Annual Meeting by experiencing Chinese hospitality at its finest. Hosted by LEHMAN, LEE & XU, we hope that this year's Sunday brunch will once again provide for a relaxing forum to learn more about China brand owners and discuss IP issues. If you would like to attend, please send email to inta@lehmanlaw.com or fax to +8610 8532-1999. LEHMAN, LEE & XU BOOTH - Exhibit Area, Booths V17 & V19. Visit with representatives of LEHMAN, LEE & XU and other Chinese brand owners. On display will be general literature on China trademark law, Q&As on China trademark registration, IP enforcement strategies and more. NAM TIN Chinese Restaurant Jodenbreestraat 11
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TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Companies May Register .CN Names
- South China's Shenzhen Makes Huge Investment in IT
- Beijing Backs Computer Networks
- China Seeks to Build "Boundary" on Internet
- Private Firm Takes on China Telecom
Companies May Register .CN Names
Under a new approach by the Chinese governing body CNNIC, the official Chinese registry for .CN domains, the .CN domain names are now available to every business and individual worldwide. Formerly limited to residents of China, it is now no longer necessary for the registrant to have a presence in China, contacts in China, association with China or a Chinese name server.
According to the report, fewer than 175,000 domains have been registered within China to date. However, with the release of the .CN domain into the global market, China expects a rise in registrations, particularly when there is a large Chinese community around the world whom now have the opportunity to register their own domain.
With around 60 million users in China it is projected that this will become the worlds largest user base for e-commerce and online services within the next three years. Currently the number of Internet users in China is growing by over 50% yearly.
(Source: Asia Pulse)
LEHMAN, LEE & XU OPENS SHENZHEN OFFICE Lehman, Lee & Xu is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Please direct all inquiries to attorney Zdravko Jelic at | |
South China's Shenzhen Makes Huge Investment in IT
Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, is set to invest RMB four billion (US $480 million) this year in developing information technology (IT) projects.
IT projects to be built include an e-government pilot project, a digital library, and Shenzhen Telecommunications and digital wire broadcasting system, said an official with the city's information office recently.
An initial sum of RMB 1.8 billion (US $217 million) has been arranged for the 85 projects, said the official, adding that some key projects would be open to investment from public capital.
The projects with investment exceeding US $100 million (US $12 million) include the city's subway automatic booking system, projects at the civilian recreation center, an IT transport card research project and network projects in the university town.
The largest investment would be in a network information system, which needed funds of RMB 500 million (US $60.2 million), the official said, adding the projects would effectively boost the city's social and economic development.
Shenzhen has gained initial headway in digital development. Statistics show the information network popularization rate in the city is 37.28 network terminals for every 100 persons, with broadband connecting 30 percent of the households.
In addition, average per capita consumption of information facilities accounted for some 20 percent of per capita total consumption expenditures.
Thirty percent of the public services offered by the city government are conducted through the network. About 50 percent of the city's total enterprises have been connected.
In 2002, Shenzhen registered RMB three billion (US $361 million) in electronic business turnover, the official said.
Application of IT has become more popular in Shenzhen where it has been widely applied in banks, taxation, enterprise monitoring, digital libraries and residential services.
(Source: Xinhuanet)
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Beijing Backs Computer Networks
Beijing wants to plug its government departments and various institutes into 200 computer networks, it was recently revealed at a meeting announcing a series of government tenders.
Beijing Vice-Mayor Fan Boyuan said earlier this month that the networking projects, involving 14,000 computers, will start by the end of the year.
According to the municipal government plan, 130 of the projects and about 5,000 of the computers have been earmarked for e-government and education.
"Such projects should depend on fiscal investment, and fair and transparent government purchasing will offer great opportunities for CPU (central processing unit) designers, software developers, computer manufacturers and solution providers," a spokesman from the Beijing municipal government's purchasing office said.
Insiders believe the competitiveness of domestic high-tech enterprises will hold them in good stead during the tender process as their network design skills are more suited to local conditions. Their price tags will be relatively lower than foreign counterparts.
However, foreigners boast an advantage in experience.
The government spokesman said the purchasing for 130 projects should be completed by the end of the year.
Another 50 projects will be installed in some financial, medical, commercial and manufacturing institutes, which enjoy preferential prices for networking facilities, as the government has set up a fund to support the spread of computer networks in the city.
"We plan to conduct 20 network computer projects in the city's west," Fan said. "We are waiting for approval from the central government."
Experts pointed out the use of computer networks will reduce operational costs for departments and institutes.
(Source: China Daily)
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China Seeks to Build "Boundary" on Internet
China is trying to erect a "national boundary" to reign in the Internet, which has long been considered a cyber territory with no demarcation line between countries, with governmental guidance and technological support.
According to Hu Mingzeng, director of the Computer Network and System Security Research Center at Harbin Industrial University in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, consisting of various government-sponsored efforts to exercise cyber monitoring or limiting, the boundary aims to find and sanction Internet-based activities which are harmful to China and its people's interests. While recognizing that the Internet can significantly promote China's social progress and connection to the outside world, the government is also paying more and more attention to criminal acts and other minor wrongdoings that it brings about, said Hu.
According to the latest statistics from the China Network Information Center, there were 59.1 million Internet users across the country by late 2002. China's huge information transport via the Internet has made it the second world cyber power after the United States.
However, some of its innate characteristics, such as real-time action, low cost to access, anonymity for users and wide access, have made the Internet a seedbed for illegal activities. In China, more than 80 percent of all personal computers have suffered virus attacks or hacker invasions, causing a loss to its financial industry of more than RMB 10 billion (US $1.2 billion) every year.
To date, China has promulgated more than ten national or local laws and regulations, which specify information protection as an obligation of network operators, information providers and connected users. According to these laws, Net-based acts, including gambling, spreading pornography, unauthorized logging-in, fraud, disclosure of State secrets, terrorism and government subversion, would be followed up and those who commit such acts would be fined or sent to prison.
China has established a special cyber police force to intensify real-time monitoring, to intercept and delete harmful information and to capture and check illegal server data.
Technological support plays an essential role in achieving such goals, said Hu, adding that the existing technological system is competent for accomplishing related security missions.
Hardware and software solutions can help Internet police monitor and collect evidence, namely by observing keyboard clicking, tracing the wrongdoers, sounding the early alert and carrying out special tasks, according to Hu.
(Source: People's Daily)
Private Firm Takes on China Telecom
In a landmark case, a private company in the southwest city of Chengdu set up by a former army official is challenging the monopoly of China Telecommunications (CT) in offering fixed-line services.
Tailong Telecommunications Information Network Co started life in 1993 with RMB 500,000 (US $60,240) in capital but has developed into a company with fixed assets of RMB 80 million and a network coverage of 200 residential districts and 35,000 customers in 2,000 residential buildings in the Chengdu area.
However, CT in Chengdu claims Tailong's operations are illegal because its license allows it to offer only broadband and not voice services.
In response, Tailong chairman Zhang Jianqing argues that its license gives it the right to lease and sell services to network customers in a defined area. "We are not in the business of providing sound and voice services but network services," he said.
Allied with Tailong are two of CT's main rivals, China Unicom and Railcom, which both have national telecom licenses. Tailong has worked with Unicom since they signed a co-operation agreement in December 1997.
On April 8, Unicom and Railcom held a news conference in Chengdu with the owner of a property development to protest against the position of CT in the city and express their support for Tailong.
On April 1, the Ministry of Information Industry published an amended list of telecom services, but its wording was ambiguous over whether Tailong's operations were legal or illegal.
Mr. Zhang is no ordinary businessman. He left the People's Liberation Army in 1984 and joined the Chengdu Telecom Bureau, where he rose to the position of deputy Communist Party chief.
In 1993, he left to go into private business, setting up a telecom engineering firm. In 1996, his company installed 5,000 telephones for employees of Chengdu Aircraft Engine Co.
The company had the equipment but no capital to set up the network and tapped Tailong, which took money in advance from the employees and set up the network.
In 1997, the firm installed telephones for 18 villages on the outskirts of the city. In December 1997, it signed an agreement with China Unicom in Chengdu to build a telecom network in a city district, which Unicom would operate and manage but from which Tailong would collect a monthly fee and charges from running the network.
The China Information Technology Law Newsletter is intended to be used for news purposes only. It should not be taken as comprehensive legal advice, and Lehman, Lee & Xu will not be held responsible for any such reliance on its contents.
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