QUESTION: Why is it necessary to formulate the Provisional Regulations?

ANSWER: Formulation of the Provisional Regulations aims to promote the development of the undertaking of China's Internet news transmission, protect the legal rights of internet sites to engage in the work of carrying news, thereby maintaining the truthfulness, accuracy and legality of the Internet news in China, the development of Internet has provided people with full and quick news information. However, to deal with the problems existing in the Internet, it is necessary to legally regulate the Internet sites in their carrying of news, so that while doing this they shall be responsible to the public and society, this is required by the general public and is conducive to promoting the development of Internet in China. Based on this purpose, the State Council Information Office, together with the Ministry of Information Industry, has drawn up the Provisional Regulations on Governance of Internet-based News Providers. The document recently published is an interim provision, in the future we will gradually revise and perfect it in light of the new situation.

QUESTION: Are these Provisional Regulations applicable to all types of news carried by Internet sites?

ANSWER: Internet sites, engaging in the work of carrying news, shall all file an application by following specified procedures, they shall obtain the qualifications through approval to engage in this work. Those engaged in carrying trade information and specialized information shall also abide by related state laws and other related stipulations on the Internet information service.

QUESTION: What kind of web sites are those of the comprehensive non-news units as mentioned in the Provisional Requlations? Why is it that these web sites can only carry the news released by the information units at or above the level of province, autonomous region and municipality?

ANSWER: Whether a web site is a comprehensive one is judged mainly by its information service contents. China has established a large number of specialized news organizations which have a contingent of professionally trained correspondents and have sound mechanisms and perfect rules and regulations governing news coverage, editing and release, their qualifications for news coverage, editing and release have been approved by relevant administrative management departments of the state. At present, web sites of non-news departments have not obtained the qualifications for news coverage, editing and releasing granted by relevant administrative management departments of the state. For this reason, the web sites of non-news units can only relay news released by information units, they cannot publish news they themselves have interviewed and written.

The stipulation, that the news relayed by the web sites of non-news units is confined to source from information units at or above the level of province, is laid down mainly out of the consideration that these information units are the mainstay of China's news release, the news they release are authoritative, accurate and timely. According to statistics from a sample survey, the news released by the information units at or above the provincial level is also the mainstay of the news relayed by the Internet sites within the Chinese territory, which accounts for over 95 percent of the relayed news.

Judged from the situation abroad, Internet sites almost all have to rely on the resources and original information of traditional media and adopt the method of buying news information from press groups and other information organizations, while Internet sites themselves do only the work of editing, processing, designing, making titles, type-setting and inter-linking.

QUESTION: Why is it necessary for the web sites of non-news units to sign an agreement in order to relay the news released by information units?

ANSWER: This is aimed at protecting the legal rights and interests of the information units, protecting intellectual property rights and maintaining the creditability of the online news.

QUESTION: What formalities shall the Internet sites perform when they apply for engaging in the work of carrying news, and what materials shall they submit?

ANSWER: A news unit which wants to establish a news web site to engage in the work of carrying news shall file an application in accordance with the specified procedures and report this to the State Council Information Office, or the information offices of the people's governments of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, for examination and approval. When they file the application, they shall submit the following materials.

1. The copy of the legal credential of the sponsor, such as the certificate of registration of newspaper and magazine, or the license of a broadcasting station or television station;

2. Application for setting up a news web site;

3. The various departments of central state organs and information units which apply for establishing a news web site to engage in the work of carrying news shall submit the document examined and approved by the administrative management department; information units directly under the cities in the locations of the people's government of the province, autonomous region and municipality, which apply for establishing news web sites for the work of carrying news shall submit the documents examined and approved by the information offices of the people's governments of the province, autonomous region and municipality.

4. The web sites of comprehensive non-news units which apply for engaging in the work of carrying news shall submit the following materials:

(1). The legal person credential of the sponsor issued by relevant administrative management department of the state;

(2). Application for engaging in the work of carrying news;

(3). Agreement signed with the information units at or above the provincial level on relaying news.

An Internet site which applies for engaging in the work of carrying news may ask for the Application Form for Internet Sites to Engage in the Work of Carrying News printed exclusively by the State Council Information Office, from the State Council Information Office or from the information offices of the people's governments of province, autonomous region and municipality where the Internet sites are located.

QUESTION: How to determine the location of the sponsor of the web site of the comprehensive non-news unit?

ANSWER: Most of the web sites of comprehensive non-news units are enterprise web sites, the location of the sponsors of these Internet sites can be determined by the location of enterprise registration organizations.

QUESTION: Can personal web pages engage in the work of carrying news, and how to exercise control over acts of violating the Regulations?

ANSWER: Personal web pages which do not belong to comprehensive web sites of non-news units shall not engage in the work of carrying news. The acts of personal web pages engaging in the work of carrying news in violation of the Regulations shall be investigated and dealt with in reference to relevant articles of the Provisional Regulations.

(People's Daily 11/13/2000)