Battleangel

The Chinese authorities have ordered all weblogs and websites in the country to register with the government or face closure in Beijing’s latest attempt to control online dissent.

Commercial publishers and advertisers could be fined up to 1m yuan (£66,000) for failing to register, according to documents on the Chinese information industry ministry’s website.

Private bloggers or websites must register the complete identity of the person responsible for the site, and the ministry – which has set a June 30 deadline for compliance – said 74% of all sites had already registered.

“The internet has profited many people, but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence, feudal superstitions and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people’s spirits,” the ministry said in an explanation of the new rules.

Source: Guardian

Yet, I wager there are some people out there in the corporate community and within certain governments going “gee, wish we could do that.” Don’t think for a moment this couldn’t happen to you too.