China Outlaws Mail Servers

[HTRegz]

Hey Hey,

To have a mail server in China you now need a license... In order to obtain that you need to meet certain criteria... Mail must be stored for 2 months, vague subject lines like "Information security" or "network security" have to be dropped... You can read it all @ http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/21...utlaws-outlook

China has introduced regulations that make it illegal to run an email server without a licence. The new rules, which came into force two weeks ago, mean that most companies running their own email servers in China are now breaking the law.
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China's new rules also prohibit use of email to discuss certain vaguely defined subjects related to 'network security' and ' information security', and also reiterate that emails which contain content contrary to existing laws must not be copied or forwarded. Wide-ranging laws of this nature have been used against political and religous dissenters in the past.

Peace,
HT

[kr5kernel]

wow thats brutal. Although standars of logging and what not will probably make it easier to prosecute poor offenders.

[foxyloxley]

It's all part of China's great NEW wall

they STILL cannot bear the thought of anyone else having information
and they still haven't learnt to trust their own people

it will all come tumbling down
just a matter of when

[kautilya]

they say that China's economy is improving, they are also promoting capitalism etc - so what does all that mean? do the people have no control on the government? who are this government anyway? like nepal, maybe the people should push for a democracy, in a serious way, if need be.

[Evil Moo]

Originally posted here by kautilya
they say that China's economy is improving, they are also promoting capitalism etc - so what does all that mean? do the people have no control on the government? who are this government anyway? like nepal, maybe the people should push for a democracy, in a serious way, if need be.

They're not really capitalists, just doing a good job of pretending to be at the moment. Most particularly with their "Special Economic Zones" I believe they're called. I wouldn't call them Commuinists either, the entire government simply seems like pure Facism to me. Then again, I don't entirely believe a true Communist state has ever existed.

I digress. I agree with you though. Once the Chinese fear the bullet less than the absence of liberty, the revolution will begin. Two things will have to happen for this to occur I think: A) the Chinese people are somehow informed en masse, or B) the government allows them possessions and some more personal control. Possession will come in a few more decades, but I hope that the impending Olympics will provide the Chinese a "window out" more than the world a view in. That is really going to shake things up.

Communism only appeals to the poor and naive. That's the reason why it never took footing in the US; Yankees already had "stuff".

[MicroBurn]

Let's take a critical look at this.

This could indeed be a good thing to stop spam, however it takes away from the little guys (I'm talking, little, little guys, like me) from running their own mail server. So on one hand, we potentially have less spam to deal with, but on the other hand, little folk, like me (not that I run a mail server... it's far to much trouble with the little time I have), probably wouldn't be able to get one going.

I don't think that is all bad, however. The licensing probably has some security concerns too, to do with bouncing emails around, for spamming purposes. Let's try and focus on the issue at hand, and not focus on communism vs. capitialism where possible.

Now, there are some things that might be of concern, such as storing emails for 2 months. How often do emails usually sit around your inbox? I know on my gmail account, I have emails from as long ago as I can remember. Of course there are problems with it, I don't agree with dropping some of the subject lines.

Perhaps something like email-server licensing is in order in other places, of course with other, more-lax regulations. It may help stop spam. Then again, it may not, and it would just piss a bunch of people off. Who knows.

enmand