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 Experts have said the draft regulations, like many laws in China,
could be interpreted broadly and, in extreme cases, could give
authorities the power to shut off access to all websites that have
not registered their web addresses in the country.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in its
proposed revisions to domain name management regulations Chinese
websites must use domestic domain registration services or risk
being cut off in China and facing fines up to 30,000 yuan ($4,600).
"Internet service providers must not provide network access services
for domain names connected to the domestic network but which are not
managed by domestic domain name registration service bodies," the
ministry said in a draft of the rules posted on its website last
week.
The ministry told Reuters on Wednesday there was "misunderstanding"
about the regulations which "did not fundamentally conflict" with
global practices.
The rules "do not involve websites that are accessed overseas, do
not affect users from accessing the related Internet content and do
not affect the normal development of business for overseas companies
in China," it said in an email.
Authorities often issue preliminary laws and regulations for comment
though it is not clear if regulators will incorporate public
feedback in final drafting. The ministry said it would "earnestly
study" feedback.
Domain names are a crucial part of the Internet, guiding people to a
specific web address, such as Google's search engine when they type
in www.google.com.
Some of China's biggest websites including Alibaba Group Holding
Ltd's Taobao and Tmall, Baidu Inc's search engine, JD.com Inc's
shopping site and the Sohu.com Inc news portal are registered
overseas, according to the www.whois.net site, which provides
information on the registration of websites.
"We are closely examining the draft regulation and will provide
appropriate input," a Baidu spokesman told Reuters.
A JD.com spokesman said the company was studying the draft but
believed the rules would not have an impact on its business.
Alibaba and Sohu declined to comment.
'ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES'
China has long operated the world's most sophisticated online
censorship mechanism, known as the Great Firewall. The websites for
Google's services, Facebook and Twitter are all inaccessible in
China.
Under President Xi Jinping, the government has implemented an
unprecedented increase in Internet control, and sought to codify the
policy within the law.
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China's top Internet regulator, Lu Wei, has said the government is
not being too restrictive. Officials say controls help maintain
social stability and national security in the face of threats such
as terrorism.
They have also suggested controls provide a good framework to
nurture domestic Internet firms.
But experts say the rules would enhance China's ability to censor,
and allow it to target sites that are hosted on Chinese servers but
have registered their domain names overseas, where they cannot be
completely shut down by Beijing.
"The draft rules aim to ensure that content hosted on Chinese
servers is accessed through a domain name managed by a Chinese
registration service provider," said Rogier Creemers, a lecturer in
China's politics and history at the University of Oxford. "This
points to an increased level of control."
Foreign business groups have criticized Internet restrictions as
limiting opportunities for overseas firms and stifling innovation.
James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in
China, said the proposals were vague, ambiguous, subject to broad
interpretation and would slow commerce and isolate China
technologically.
"At a minimum, the regulations would create additional challenges
for both foreign and domestic companies," he said in an email.
Some experts said the concerns were over-blown.
While the rules could allow the government to block all websites not
registered in China, that would be an extreme interpretation, said
Mareike Ohlberg, a research associate at the Mercator Institute for
China Studies in Berlin.
"It is possible, but not very likely, that this would result in a de
facto block of all domains not registered in China," Ohlberg said.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten and Michael Martina; Editing by Robert
Birsel)
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