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Posted by
Olog-hai
on Wed Sep 1 01:29:48 2010
edf40wrjww2msgDetailOT:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Yeah, real non-communist. So much for the right to privacy, or as they put it, "freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens of the People's Republic of China", that Article 40 of their constitution is supposed to protect (except of course "in cases where, to meet the needs of state security or of investigation into criminal offenses, public security or procuratorial organs are permitted to censor correspondence in accordance with procedures prescribed by law") . . . whoops . . .
Reuters
Critics put on mute as China tightens mobile phone rulesTue Aug 31, 2010 11:18pm EDT
BEIJING — Chinese mobile telephone users must register their personal details to buy phone numbers under a rule that comes into force from Wednesday, in what the government calls an attack on spam but some see as a blow to privacy.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says residents buying numbers for mobile phones must now show their ID cards, and foreigners must produce their passports, with buyers limited to a maximum of 18 numbers.
Cell phone SIM cards are widely sold at shops and newspaper stalls in China for as little as 50 yuan ($7.30) each. The cheapest numbers heavy in the digit 4, pronounced 'si' in Mandarin Chinese, a similar sound to the word for death.
The China Daily newspaper said the move was "the latest campaign by the government to curb the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones."
Unsolicited text messages sent from mobile numbers offering cheap real estate, fake sales receipts, and miracle health products are a headache for many residents.
But the long-discussed move, similar to rules in some countries in the West, is opposed by critics who see it as another intrusion into privacy, making it easier for authorities to snoop. Others fear the information will be illicitly sold to spammers and other unscrupulous businesses.
"Now that the system of authenticating names for mobile phones is being enforced, the related measures for protecting citizens' privacy cannot be delayed," a commentary in the China Economic Times said.
China had 795 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of July, according to government estimates. They received an average 43 text messages every week, about 12 of them spam, the China Daily reported, citing a government center tackling the problem.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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