Access to the Internet

By looking at most fundamental pre-requisite for e-Commerce, access to the Internet, clearly, China and Hong Kong are on two extreme sides. Various regulations have been imposed to both end-users and industry players in China. In contrast, Hong Kong government exercises loose control for entity or person to tape into the cyberspace.

China

Any company seeking to establish an online presence China needs to access to the Internet first. Under The Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services (MAIIS) issued by the State Council in September 2000, any entities that provide information services for profit over Internet is obliged to obtain a license from government. Amended in May 1997, the Computer Linkup Provisions set up a four-tier system (see Appendix 1) for access to the Internet and designated the Ministry of Information Industry as the ultimate gatekeeper for transmissions to and from the World Wide Web.

The Regulation of Public Computer Networks and the Internet promulgated in April 1996 and revised in December 1997 set up a mechanism for censoring information that flows into and out of the country. It imposes some restrictions to both end-users and operators including ISPs and corporate intranet operators (see Appendix 2). All Internet users must obtain proper approval from the MPS before using computer works or network resources, while the ISP has to submit the application form to the public security office within 30 days. In addition, the ISP is responsible for the inspection of content transmitted by their user and set up system to manage the information of electronic bulletin boards. In case of any violations of existing rules and regulations, they must report to the local public security office within 24 hours.