China tightens its grip on the internet

The Chinese Ministry of Culture announced Saturday that the country’s first regulation specifically governing the marketing of Internet gaming and gambling will take effect Sunday, claiming that the laws are necessary to protect the nation’s children from ‘unwholesome content and Internet addiction’.
BNO News reports that the legislation was issued by the Ministry on June 22, and rules that online games targeting minors must be free of content that can lead to the imitation of behaviour that violates social morals and the law.
However, the law is apparently open to interpretation regarding the definitions of what content would constitute ‘behaviour that violates social morals.’
The new law apparently requires that gaming companies develop techniques that limit the amount of time minors spend playing, but it does not detail exactly what techniques should be deployed or what is regarded as a reasonable and acceptable time limit.
Web players will have to register using their real names before playing any games online, according to the regulations.
China’s online population reached 420 million by June 2010, according to information from China Internet Network Information Center. The market value of the online gambling industry in China was estimated to be almost $3.8 billion in 2009.

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