China's government is moving to tighten its grip over the Internet as it rolls out draft rules that will effectively ban Web domains not approved by local authorities, including possibly the most widely used .com and .org addresses.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is seeking feedback on regulations proposing that Internet domain names offering "domestic access" should only be provided by services supervised by the government, according to a notice posted on the regulator's website. Domain names are web locations such as .net or .cn. Under the proposal, their providers have to apply to the ministry for approval before Web addresses are allowed to operate.
That could allow the government to monitor users' activity and strengthen its control over what content is accessible, said Lento Yip, chairman of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association, in an e-mail. The government of China, which has the world's largest Internet population, blocks and filters content from local and overseas websites to keep a tight rein on citizens' access to information via the so-called Great Firewall.