Chinese individuals have been banned from registering personal domain names and those who already have personal websites could lose them, according to the South China Morning Post citing a Chinese government regulation which recently came into effect. The regulation states ISPs are no longer allowed to host individually owned websites and that only businesses with operating licences or government-authorised organisations may now have websites. The China Internet Network Information Centre, which supervises domain name registration, said the measure stemmed from concern over widespread pornographic content on personal websites. The regulation requires a domain name applicant to submit, among other things, a photocopy of its business or organisation licence. The purpose of requiring the licence is to guarantee the background information of the applicant is "real, accurate and complete." Existing individual domains could also be in trouble. Website owners in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Henan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi said their sites were no longer accessible. HiChina, one of the biggest ISPs on the mainland, said it would return hosting fees paid by customers whose applications were rejected.
