China Moving to Real Name Registrations for Blogs

dptalia writes "China is moving to require people to use their real names when blogging. The proposed solution, arrived at by the Internet Society of China (affiliated with the ministry of information) would allow bloggers to use a pseudonym when blogging as long as they used their real name when registering."

Comments

How long?

[PixieDust]

With the way things are going many other places (especially given recent court battles here in the US about children online and privacy and protection), How long until we see tactics like this on THIS side of the Pacific?

Additionally, tactics like this in China, I can't help but wonder, will this in some way allow US Intelligence to decide exactly who is responsible for attacks against US Cyber Targets? If people are required to use their REAL names when registering (let's say on Yahoo just for an example), and there is a Yahoo group comprised of mostly Chinese users, which post all kinds of anti-American things, or organizing these attacks, what's to stop US Intelligence from forcing Yahoo to turn over the names of those registered?

Furthermore, what if the US decides to expand the "Patrio" Act, to include requirements like this (Hell they've already forced ISPs and phone companies into turning over ludicrous amounts of information).

Maybe I'm wearing a tin-foil hat and not realizing it, but is anyone else troubled by the recent trend in online privacy intrusions? That is one thing that is nice about the internet, it affords you a certain amount of anonymity. Could we be witnessing the end of that?

Also, just how much REAL difference is there in the US's privacy invasion crimes, and China's? Could it be that China is just more blatant about it?

Re:How long?

[aussie_a]

I'm just trying to figure out how you turned this into a criticism of america... that was smooth man, I got to the end and had to remind myself that I don't have to register a blog in my real name..

yet.

China -- thanks for the perfect example

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a perfect example of why we need to preserve the possibility of anonymity on the net.

It's fine to authenticate financial transactions and what not, but there is no complete freedom of speech without the ability to be anonymous at times.

Re:China -- thanks for the perfect example

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

The Supreme Court agrees with you (as did the Founding Fathers who published the Federalist Papers under a pseudonym).

McIntyre vs. Ohio Elections Commission (514 U.S. 334 (1995)) ended with the Supreme Court deciding "an author's decision to remain anonymous, like other decisions concerning omissions or additions to the content of a publication, is an aspect of the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment." Talley vs. California was decided with the comment "[p]ersecuted groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not at all."

Nor is fear of persecution the only issue. The Supreme Court also noted "On occasion, quite apart from any threat of persecution, an advocate may believe her ideas will be more persuasive if her readers are unaware of her identity. Anonymity thereby provides a way for a writer who may be personally unpopular to ensure that readers will not prejudge her message simply because they do not like its proponent."

Anyway, I don't envy the Chinese authorities investigating a blogger and having to walk through the country going "Is there a Chang here? We're looking for Chang."

Re:It's a different society.

[Dr. Donuts]

Actually, this sort of thing would be labeled "fighting terrorism" in the US.

Annoying, yes, but...

[808140]

Names are by no means unique identifiers in China -- there are only a hundred or so family names in common use and the characters used in people's names are often recycled. With the population of China being as large as it is, even if you use your real name there could easily be 50 people in your area who have exactly the same name.

Now if they were requiring that a person register with their ID number -- everyone in China has one -- that would be something. It surprises me, actually, that they're not doing that. I wonder why?

Re:From the ... dept

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Re:It's a different society.

[Pantero Blanco]

The same thing is in place for registering .us domain names, isn't it?

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/31/01 4239&from=rss

Re:oblig

[bigdavesmith]

TFA doesn't give any details, but I'd be willing to bet that 'registering your real name' doesn't mean they just give you a box and you type in "Sandy O'Hoolahan". Considering China's record with internet regulation, there's probably going to be enough checks and controls so that once you register, if you blog something they don't like, they can find you.

Re:It's a different society.

[bunions]

exactly. let's not get up on our moral high horse here. We americans still live in a country where all our phone calls and internet traffic are monitored.

Re:It's a different society.

[Anonymous Coward]

Prove that. Prove that although we can be monitored, we aren't. Because I can prove otherwise: I worked for a company called ClientLogic that does customer service and Tech Support for Earthlink in Albuquerque, NM. Every single message you send out through Webmail is kept on a server, whether or not you delete it at home. We even had the option of reading your mail and then checking a box to Mark them as "Unread". Because you are such a compliant citizen, it makes no difference to you, I'm sure, but all servers do that. If we didn't like what we read, we were trained to report it anonymously at work or simply to call DHS on our own.
And just like I'm sure in China they will be scanning large amounts of date for keywords, the same thing is done here. Noone is sitting there reading everything but certain sites and certain keywords or phrases activate surveillance on you. Google Total Information Awareness and Ecehelon...