Ministry of Information Industry, Administration of China Internet Domain Names Measures

Promulgated: August 1 2002
Effective: September 30 2002
Applicability: The Measures apply to those engaged in domain name registration services and other related activities (Article 2).

Main contents: The Measures contain 34 articles in seven sections containing provisions on the administration of domain names (Section 2), the administration of domain name registration service institutions (Section 3), domain name registration (Section 4) and domain name disputes (Section 5).
Under the Measures, the administration of domain names becomes the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information Industry (Article 5). The Ministry oversees a range of top-level domain names, including .cn and Chinese-language domain names. It also oversees the domain name registration administration institution.
Domain name registration administration institutions may set up time limits for advance registration when expanding their scope of registration, but no domain name registration administration or services institution may reserve domain names or reserve domain names in disguise (Article 17). Domain names that threaten State security, or are pornographic or libellous are prohibited, but domain names that use an industry name, a foreign place name, a product name or an enterprise name are no longer prohibited. Domain name owners may choose and change their domain name registration service institution (Articles 19 and 24).
The domain name registration administration institution can designate a neutral domain name dispute settlement institution to resolve domain name disputes (Article 26). Domain name registration services institutions operating before the implementation of the Measures shall complete record filing Measures accordingly within 60 days as of the effective date of the Measures (Article 33).