Measures for the Administration of Internet Electronic Mail Services

(Promulgated by the Ministry of Information Industry on February 20 2006 and effective as of March 30 2006.)

Order of the MII No.38

Article 1: These Measures have been formulated pursuant to such laws and administrative regulations as the PRC Telecommunications Regulations and the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services, etc. in order to regulate internet electronic mail services and protect the lawful rights and interests of users of internet electronic mail services.

Article 2: These Measures shall govern the provision of internet electronic mail services, the provision of access services for internet electronic mail services and the sending of internet electronic mail in the People's Republic of China.

For the purposes of these Measures, the term 'internet electronic mail services' means the act of installing internet electronic mail servers and providing the conditions for internet users to send and receive internet electronic mail.

Article 3: The confidentiality of the communications of citizens who use internet electronic mail services shall be protected by law. No organization or individual may for any reason infringe upon the confidentiality of the communications of citizens, with the exception of the public security authorities and procuratorial authorities inspecting the contents of communications in accordance with legally mandated procedures in the interests of state security or the investigation of criminal offences.

Article 4: To provide internet electronic mail services, a value-added telecommunications service business permit shall first be obtained or the procedures for the record filing of non-commercial internet information services shall first be carried out in accordance with the law.

No organization or individual may engage in the provision of internet electronic mail services in the People's Republic of China without having obtained a value-added telecommunications service business permit or carried out the procedures for the record filing of non-commercial internet content provision.

Article 5: Telecommunications service providers, such as internet access service providers, etc., may not provide access services to organizations or individuals wishing to provide internet electronic mail services that have not obtained a value-added telecommunications service business permit or carried out the procedures for the record filing of non-commercial internet content provision.

Article 6: The state will subject the IP addresses of the electronic mail servers of internet electronic mail service providers to registration. An internet electronic mail service provider shall register the IP address that its internet electronic mail server will use with the Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China (MII) or the communications administration of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government (the Communications Administration) 20 days before such server comes on line.

If an internet electronic mail service provider intends to change the IP address of its internet electronic mail server, it shall carry out amendment procedures 30 days in advance.

Article 7: An internet electronic mail service provider shall construct its internet electronic mail service system in accordance with the technical standards formulated by the MII, turn off the anonymous forwarding function of its electronic mail server and strengthen the administration of the security of its electronic mail service system. If a network security hole is discovered, it shall promptly take security protection measures.

Article 8: When an internet electronic mail service provider is to provide services to a user, it shall expressly inform the user of the services to be provided and the usage rules.

Article 9: An internet electronic mail service provider shall bear an obligation of confidentiality in respect of users' personal registration particulars and internet electronic mail addresses.

An internet electronic mail service provider and its working personnel may not illegally use the personal registration particulars or internet electronic mail addresses of users and they may not disclose the personal registration particulars and internet electronic mail address of a user without its consent, unless otherwise specified in laws or administrative regulations.

Article 10: An internet electronic mail service provider shall record the time of sending or receipt of internet electronic mail sent or received via its internet electronic mail server and the internet electronic mail addresses and IP addresses of the senders and receivers. The aforementioned records shall be preserved for 60 days and shall be provided to the relevant state authorities when they inquire about the same in accordance with the law.

Article 11: No organization or individual may write, reproduce, publish or transmit internet electronic mail with the content specified in Article 57 of the PRC Telecommunications Regulations.

No organization or individual may utilize internet electronic mail to engage in the activities that threaten network security and information security prohibited in Article 58 of the PRC Telecommunications Regulations.

Article 12: No organization or individual may:

(1) use another person's computer system to send internet electronic mail without authorization;

(2) sell, share or exchange the internet electronic mail addresses of other persons obtained by such means as automated online harvesting, the random combining of letters or numbers, etc. or send internet electronic mail to the internet electronic mail addresses obtained by the aforementioned means.

Article 13: No organization or individual may send, or entrust another to send, internet electronic mail in the following manner:

(1) send internet electronic mail that deliberately conceals or fabricates the internet header information of the internet electronic mail;

(2) send internet electronic mail with commercial advertising content to internet electronic mail recipients without their express consent; or

(3) when sending internet electronic mail with commercial advertising content, fail to indicate the word 'advertisement' or 'AD' in front of the subject of the internet electronic mail.

Article 14: If an internet electronic mail recipient who has expressly consented to receiving internet electronic mail with commercial advertising content later refuses to continue receiving the same, the internet electronic mail sender shall cease sending the same, unless the parties have agreed otherwise.

An internet electronic mail sender who sends internet electronic mail with commercial advertising content shall provide receivers with a contact method so that they can refuse to continue receiving the same, which shall include the sender's electronic mail address, and ensure that the contact method is valid for 30 days.

Article 15: Internet electronic mail service providers and telecommunications service providers that provide access services for internet electronic mail services shall accept from their users reports made to them concerning internet electronic mail and provide them with a convenient reporting method.

Article 16: An internet electronic mail service provider or telecommunications service provider that provides access services for internet electronic mail services shall handle reports from users in accordance with the following requirements:

(1) if it finds that the reported internet electronic mail clearly has content that is prohibited in the first paragraph of Article 11 hereof, it shall promptly report the same to the relevant state authorities;

(2) reported internet electronic mail other than those specified in item (1) hereof, shall be reported to the Internet Electronic Mail Reports Acceptance Centre established by the Internet Society of China as entrusted by the MII (the “Internet Electronic Mail Reports Acceptance Centre”); and

(3) if the reported internet electronic mail involves the unit itself, it shall promptly launch an investigation, take reasonable and effective preventive or handling measures and report the relevant circumstances and investigation results to the relevant state authorities or the Internet Electronic Mail Reports Acceptance Centre.

Article 17: The Internet Electronic Mail Reports Acceptance Centre shall carry out the following tasks in accordance with the work system and flow process formulated by the MII:

(1) accepting reports made concerning internet electronic mail;

(2) assisting the MII or Communications Administration in determining whether reported internet electronic mail violate relevant provisions hereof and assisting in tracing the relevant responsible persons; and

(3) assisting the relevant state authorities in tracing the relevant responsible persons in case of violation of
Article 11 hereof.

Article 18: Internet electronic mail service providers and telecommunications service providers who provide access services for internet electronic mail services shall actively cooperate with the relevant state authorities and the Internet Electronic Mail Report Acceptance Centre in their investigation work.

Article 19: If Article 4 hereof is violated by engaging in the provision of internet electronic mail services without a value-added telecommunications service business permit or without having carried out the procedures for the record filing of non-commercial internet information services, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with Article 19 of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services.

Article 20: If Article 5 hereof is violated, the MII or Communications Administration shall, ex officio, order rectification and impose a fine of not more than Rmb10,000.

Article 21: If the obligations specified in Article 6, 7, 8 or 10 hereof are not performed, the MII or Communications Administration shall, ex officio, order rectification and impose a fine of not less than Rmb5,000 and not more than Rmb10,000.

Article 22: If Article 9 hereof is violated, the MII or Communications Administration shall, ex officio, order rectification and impose a fine of not more than Rmb10,000; if there is illegal income, it shall impose a fine of not more than Rmb30,000.

Article 23: If Article 11 hereof is violated, matters shall be handled in accordance with Article 67 of the PRC Telecommunications Regulations.

If a telecommunications service provider, such as an internet electronic mail service provider, etc., commits an act prohibited under Article 11 hereof, it shall be punished by the MII or Communications Administration in accordance with Article 78 of the PRC Telecommunications Regulations and Article 20 of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services.

Article 24: If Article 12, 13 or 14 hereof is violated, the MII or Communications Administration shall, ex officio, order rectification and impose a fine of not more than Rmb10,000; if there is illegal income, it shall impose a fine of not more than Rmb30,000.

Article 25: If Article 15, 16 or 18 hereof is violated, the MII or Communications Administration shall, ex officio, issue a warning and impose a fine of not less than Rmb5,000 and not more than Rmb10,000.

Article 26: For the purposes of these Measures, the term 'internet electronicmail address' means a universally unique destination identifier composed of the name of the user and an internet domain name that may be used to send electronic mail to the internet electronic mail user.

For the purposes of these Measures, the term 'internet header information of internet electronic mail' means the information added to an internet electronic mail to indicate the sender, receiver and route of the internet electronic mail, etc. and that reflects the origin, destination and transmission process of the internet electronic mail message.

For the purposes of these Measures, the term 'subject of internet electronic mail' means the information added to an internet electronic mail to indicate its subject.

Article 27: These Measures shall be effective as of
March 30 2006.