Soft Law in China’s
regulation of the Internet
Professor of law
Research Center for Cyber-law
Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications
Deliang Liu
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
Soft laws in terms of Internet regulation
are usually coming from society. They
are often made by enterprises in the
industry or by other unofficial
institutions such as associations in the
industry, in the form of code, proposal,
principle and the like. Among them ,
Internet Society of China has made the
greatest contribution by formulating
many self-regulations.
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• The main subjects regulated by soft
laws are as follows:
• 1,Information Content on the Internet
• 2,Domain Name
• 3,Internet-related Intellectual Property
• 4,Malicious Software
• 5,E-commerce
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• 1,Information Content on the Internet:
• Most Soft laws are in this area . They
include regulations on news,
advertisements, blogs, online-games,
which usually provide that information
which will harm national security and
social stability or violate relevant laws
or regulations shall not be made or
spread..
TO
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• 2. Domain Name:
• Soft laws with regard to domain name
are mainly concerned with
authentication of domain name
registration and domain name dispute
resolution.
TO
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• 3,Internet-related Intellectual Property:
• Soft laws in this aspect are much more
related to the protection of copy right
than to trade marks or other forms of
intellectual property..
TO
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• 4,Malicious Software:
• In defining malicious software, soft
laws in this regard emphasize the
importance of obtaining the user’s
consent on the software installation
provided by the service provider, and
forbidding mandatory or deceptive
installation.
TO
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Fewer soft laws of E-commerce are
stipulated by unofficial bodies. They
usually appear in the form of guidelines
of an administrative department.
Examples are Guiding Opinions of the
Ministry of Commerce on Online
Trading (for Interim Implementation)
（ Ministry of Commerce ,3.2007）and
Electronic Payment Guidelines (No. 1)
（ People’s Bank of China ,10.2005 ）
Soft Law in China’s
regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
THANK YOU !
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Self-Regulation Convention for Internet
Information Service（Internet Society
of China & Internet Information Service
Committee, 12.2003 ）
• Article 3 Do not make and spread
information which will harm the national
security, social stability, and violate laws
and regulations, or which involve obscenity,
pornography, superstition, etc. Resist the
information contents that go against good
Chinese traditions and ethics.
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Self-Regulation Convention for Blog Service
（Internet Society of China , 8.2007 ）
• Section 2, Article 9 The bloggers should
ensure that they do not spread the
information which insults or disparages
other nationalities, races, different religious
beliefs and different cultural traditions.
• Section 3, Article 9 Do not spread the rumor,
defamatory and other false information, and
do not spread the information that violates
the legitimate rights and interests of other
people.
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Self-Regulation for China Interactive Online
Advertising Industry （China Advertising
Association Interactive Network Committee,
6.2007 ）
• Article 6 Internet advertisements should respect
women and be good for children's physical and
mental health, and it should not mislead public
consumption . The minor’s image and name
should not be used in advertisements for goods
and services which are not appropriate for
minors.
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• The following are other soft laws in
Information Content on the Internet:
• Self-Regulation on Prohibiting Website
from Disseminating Information with
Obscenity, Pornography and Other
Undesirable Content (Internet Society
of China & Internet Information Service
Committee, 6.2004)
• Self-Regulation Convention for China’s
Online Game Industry (China Software
Industry Association,6.2005) back
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Measures for Authentication of Domain
Name Registrars（ China Internet
Information Center, 9. 2002 ）
• Measures for Resolving Disputes
Regarding Domain Names （China
Internet Information Center, 3.2006 ）
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
Rules for Domain Name Dispute
Resolution Policy（ China Internet
Information Center , 10. 2007 ）
• Self-Regulation Convention for Industry
Internet Address Registration Services
(Internet address registration services
industry ,7. 2007)
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Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Internet Society of China set up
Network Copyright Alliance in 9.2005.
• The aim of Alliance is through the
implementation of the industry selfregulation to promote the
implementation of law of Information
Network copyright, to protect online
copyrights, and to provide contents
and services that have legitimate
warrant for Chinese Internet users.
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Self-Regulation Convention for Online
Copyright (Internet Society of China, 9.2005)
• The Convention on the Protection of Online
Copyright (Signed by Representatives of 112
Websites in 2002)
• It aims at regulating reprint among different
Websites and protecting signature right of
author and media in which works was first
published
•
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Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
• Self-Regulation Convention on Rejecting Malicious Software
(Internet Society of China，12.2006 ) & “The Details of the
Definition of Malicious Software” define ‘malicious sofware’ as:
Mandatory installation;Difficult to uninstall;
Browser hijackers; Pop-up ads; Malicious
collection of user information; Malicious
unloading; Malicious bundle; Other malicious
acts such as violations of the right to know,
violations of the right to choose go
Articles of the Internet Society of China Anti-Malware Identification
Committee (Internet Society of China,6.2007 ） back
Soft Law in China’s regulation of the Internet
Professor Deliang Liu
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