DNS - China Reportedly Establishes 'Approvals Process' for Citizens Who Wish to Launch Web Sites

Supposedly in an effort to curb the proliferation of online pornography, the Chinese government is now requiring a type of “approvals” process for citizens who wish to establish Web sites.

According to an AP report, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the state-sanctioned group that registers domain names in China, “froze registrations for new individual Web sites in December after state media complained that not enough was being done to check whether sites provided pornographic content.”

The ban has since been lifted, but anyone who wishes to set up a Web site must now submit an ID card and photo, as well as “meet in person with regulators and representatives of service providers before their sites could be registered.”

The news comes as Google (News - Alert) negotiates with the Chinese Government about whether it will be allowed to continue operating in the country. Company officials said in January the Internet search giant would no longer cooperate with China’s Web censorship. Still no news yet on how the discussions are going.