US panel supports China net laws
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A US congress panel backs legislation which would stop internet firms from co-operating with Chinese authorities.
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Yahoo China and MSN China confirmed Friday they had signed a code of conduct for their blogging operations that committed them to protecting the interests of the Chinese state.
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China has launched the first backbone network of the next-generation Internet, CERNET2, breaking the US monopoly and allowing the Communist giant to dramatically narrow its gap with world leaders, officials and experts said on Monday.
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WASHINGTON -- New rules approved this week by the Federal Communications Commission are aimed at making high-speed Internet available to more Americans.
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Despite being ranked eleventh in the world in broadband penetration, the United States is rolling out high-speed services on a &quot;reasonable and timely basis to all Americans,&quot; according to a new report narrowly approved today by the Federal Communications
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US queries about how Japan and the European Union will sanction American imports were resolved today, paving the way for retaliation against a US law that has handed $750 million in customs levies to companies since 2001.
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China seeks to put technical Internet management issues on the agenda of a U.N.-run forum concerning the development of the Internet.
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China will take a new step Thursday to tighten control of the Internet when rules go into force limiting online video-sharing to state companies. But regulators, wary of hurting a fast-growing industry, are expected to let private operators work around the restrictions.
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Concern over Chinaâs use of surveillance technology prompts new rules for U.S. exports.
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The United States, facing opposition to  proposed U.N. sanctions against North Korea for this week&#039;s  missile tests, said on Saturday it backed China&#039;s proposal for  informal talks to re-engage the reclusive state.
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MUMBAI: Another American bastion falls to the Chinese Dragon. China has announced today the launch of the first backbone network of the next-generation Internet, Cernet2 (China Education and Research Network).
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(InfoWorld) - Asian regulators should think twice about followingÂ the U.S. lead on net neutrality, or risk undermining the economic incentive for Asian carriers to build and maintain faster networks, according to speakers at the CommunicAsia Summit in Singapore. Regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore show signs of enshrining a policy of net neutrality for future networks, and that's not necessarily a positive development, said Peter Waters, a partner at law firm Gilbert+Tobin. Net neutrality is a term for policies that prevent carriers from giving preference on their networks to traffic from their own sites, or charging Web sites extra for preferential treatment. "We need to back off a bit," Waters said. Regulators should wait until a problem arises before stepping in to set new policies, he said. Waters and others speaking at CommunicAsia argued that carriers must be able to collect revenue for the different types of content that crosses their networks. Asia Netcom, which operates a backhaul network in Asia, claimed the right to charge content providers for the data carried on its network, particularly when that data is valuable. For example, Google and others use Asia Netcom's network to transmit advertisements and other content that have significant value. "Why do I keep providing that [service] for free?" said Mark Simpson, the company's chief operating officer. Waters proposed a revenue-sharing model, where backhaul carriers receive a portion of the revenue from content providers for the data carried on their networks. Net neutrality is a contentious issue and is generallyÂ opposed by carriers, who argue it reduces the incentive to build new networks. However, in March, researchers at the University of Florida conducted a study using game theory analysis that found the opposite to be true. Allowing carriers to charge content providers for the data they carry provides less incentive for the carriers to expand and improve their networks, they found. "The incentive for the broadband service provider to expand under net neutrality is unambiguously higher than when the principle of net neutrality is abandoned," the researchers wrote in the conclusion of their report. Â
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NEW YORK, December 31  - A US judge has temporarily barred the countryâs commerce department from imposing curbs on the import of textiles and clothing from China.
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SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that could allow criminal charges to be brought against individuals who participate in file-swapping Web sites or networks.
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(InfoWorld) - U.S. Congressman Chris Smith said that top American technology companies are failing to prevent censorship and other human rights abuses in China, writing Saturday in a letter to The Wall Street Journal. "There is enormous profit potential, but entering the Chinese market means challenging a repressive regime on basic human rights tenets. Sadly, some of America's largest tech firms are currently failing this new test of corporate responsibility," wrote Smith, a Republican from New Jersey and a member of the Foreign Services Committee. Smith said that representatives from Yahoo, Google, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft appeared at an April, 2006 Congressional hearing he convened and "they all acknowledged that their companies have enabled dictatorships to censor democracy and human rights promotion on the Internet." He also said that "Yahoo and Cisco have evenÂ helped the Chinese government incarcerate Internet usersÂ for pro-democracy activity." Court documents and evidence from human rights groups have shown that Yahoo's Hong Kong subsidiary, Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong), cooperated with Chinese police in cases against journalist Shi Tao and political activist Li Zhi, and that material provided by the company may have led to their conviction. Shi was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, Li to eight years. In January, Smith re-introduced "The Global Online Freedom Bill of 2007," would give individuals like Shi and Li the right to seek redress in U.S. courts, if they believe their freedom of expression was compromised by a U.S. company. Internet companies would be required to inform the Office of Global Internet Freedom -- to be created if the bill is signed into law -- of keywords and search parameters they are filtering. They must also notify the Office of any restrictions on Internet information access with which they must comply in order to do business in a foreign country. Companies can be fined up to $2 million for violation of these principles, with individuals liable for up to $100,000. The bill provides for $50 million to establish the Office of Global Internet Freedom. The bill cited nine countries, including China, Iran, and North Korea, for blocking, restricting, and monitoring the Internet and its citizens' use of it, according to a January 8 statement from Smith's office. Later in January, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Vodafone Group agreed to develop aÂ code of conductÂ with a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to promote freedom of expression and privacy rights. The parties involved said that they would develop a framework that would hold signatories accountable for their actions in the areas of freedom of expression and privacy rights. Eighteen NGOs are participating in the guidelines' development, including: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School; Business for Social Responsibility; Electronic Frontier Foundation; Human Rights Watch; and Reporters Without Borders. One observer felt the tech firms were now between a rock and a hard place. "Technology companies now have the unenviable position of moving into the media realm, which is tightly controlled in China," said Danny Levinson, publisher of BDL Media's ChinaCSR.com and the China CSR monthly magazine. "When dealing with corporate social responsibility in China, foreign technology companies are easier targets than firms in other sectors because they are much more high profile than, say, the mining companies providing poor labor oversight and textile companies polluting the environment," Levinson said.
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A bill slapping fines on lawyers for  filing frivolous lawsuits was approved on Wednesday by a U.S.  House of Representatives panel, acting on a priority President  Bush highlighted at last week's Republican party convention.
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U.S. communications regulators on Thursday insisted the United States was making progress in rolling out high-speed Internet service, despite falling further behind other countries.