Liberté, I write your name… but where?

This does not come as a surprise, yet, sometimes, one prefers to be wrong. From today's SCMP:

Mainland bans private websites
by Stephen Chen, Dec 15, 2009

Mainlanders have been banned from registering personal domain names, and those who already have personal websites could lose them, according to a government regulation that came into effect yesterday.
The regulation states internet service providers are no longer allowed to host individually owned websites, and that only businesses with operating licences or government-authorised organisations may now have websites. The China Internet Network Information Centre, which supervises domain name registration on the mainland, said the measure stemmed from concern over widespread pornographic content on personal websites.
The draconian regulation requires a domain name applicant to submit, among other things, a photocopy of its business or organisation licence. The purpose of requiring the licence is to guarantee the background information of the applicant is "real, accurate and complete".
An individual would not have a chance to get a website under the new rule, said a centre employee who would not give his name.
"We will reject the application if it does not come with either of the licences," he said.
Existing individual domains could also be in trouble.
"We have launched a thorough examination ... if their registration information is found incomplete or fake, we will kill their domain names as well," the employee said. "We're doing so to clean up pornography and piracy on the internet."
Website owners in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Henan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi said their sites were no longer accessible from yesterday morning. Nanjingtaobao.com is one of the victims.
"Most of the world's websites are established by individuals; most of the world's websites are still run by individuals," its webmaster wrote.
"The internet needs freedom, needs sharing and needs the spread of words. Killing personal websites is like killing an infant in the cradle.
"The government must stop using the methods of the Cultural Revolution to manage the open internet platform."
HiChina, one of the biggest ISPs on the mainland, said it would return hosting fees paid by customers whose applications were rejected.
William Long, author of the best-selling book How to Make Your Blog Famous, urged mainland website owners to shift their base to other countries, such as the United Sates.
"Their ISPs would not sell customer information and shut down their websites at will. It is safer, more reliable and economic," he said.