Getting More Culture: New Rules For ICPs

By Nancy Leigh, Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong

Internet content providers (ICPs) in China are subject to strict regulation by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and local telecommunications authorities as set out in the PRC Telecommunications Regulations (中华人民共和国电信条例)and the Administration of Internet Information Services Procedures (the IIS Procedures). Now, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) has added a new layer of administrative control with the Administration of Culture on the Internet Tentative Provisions (the Tentative Provisions), effective from July 1 2003.

The Tentative Provisions apply to "Internet cultural activities", which involve the production and dissemination of so-called "cultural products" via the Internet. These include audio and video products, games, performances and artistic works. Cultural activities include: the production, duplication, import, wholesale, retail, rental and transmission of cultural products; the online transmission of cultural products or their dissemination to user terminals such as computers, fixed-line telephones, mobile telephones, radios, television sets or game consoles for browsing, reading, or downloading by online users; and activities such as exhibitions and competitions involving cultural products via the Internet.