All .cn websites require business license

• Source: Global Times
• [03:31 December 14 2009]
• Comments

The .cn extension is used to identify a domain as belonging to China while those in Germany use .de, for example.

The number of .cn domain name registrations has surpassed 10 million, becoming the mainstream domain name in China. Important websites related to the national economy and the people's livelihood all use .cn domain name.

"The regulation will efficiently restrict porn websites," Shang Guan, a media worker in Beijing, told the Global Times.

However, Professor Wang Sixin at the Communication University of China said the move would restrict people's rights to participate in network activity.

"The watchdog can punish the porn websites but it's not reasonable to ban individuals from registering websites; not every registrant wants to spread erotic information online. It'll filter out the bad information but will also block those useful and positive ones," he told the Global Times.

Individual users in overseas countries, such as the US, are freely allowed to register domain names. In Hong Kong, individual Internet users are able to register domain names by paying a fee to agents.

Once a domain name is registered to a person, it is that person's right to use exclusively as long as they continue to pay the annual renewal fee.

"The move will increase the obstacles facing people who want to express themselves online and will ultimately restrict the development of the Internet," Wang added.

Internet user Shuai Xin told the Global Times that the new regulation is unreasonable.

"Most websites are registered by individuals. The information online will be boring if all the websites are registered by enterprises," Shuai said.