SMS, as an emerging wireless value added service, has brought profits to SPs.
"But the market has also nurtured illegal SPs," Shen said, " The government has
to begin administrative management to restrict and punish them because they
have gone too far."
The MII issued new policies in March of this year to regulate the SMS service
providers. In August, Public Security Bureau (PSB) announced it will clear up
illegal SPs. The new regulation would provide a legal basis for PBS to take
action, Shen said.
In related news from Beijing on Monday, China's propaganda minders have
tightened the rules on domestic Internet sites in an effort to curb 'unhealthy
news stories' on the web, state press reported.
The new regulations were issued by the information office of the State Council,
China's cabinet, Sunday, the China Daily reported.
'We need to better regulate the online news services with the emergence of so
many unhealthy news stories that will easily mislead the public,' a State
Council spokesman was quoted as saying.
Bulletin board services and short messaging services that transmit news stories
will also be subject to the new regulations, the report said.
News sites that publish 'fabricated information, pornography, gambling or
violence' face severe punishment or shutdowns, it said.
The move is the latest in China's efforts to police the Internet and follow
stringent efforts -- known as the Great Firewall of China -- to keep content
authorities see as 'unhealthy', like pornography and anti-government postings,
off the web.
China's ruling Communist Party controls all media outlets in the country.
China already requires all users of Internet cafes to register before using the
Internet, while major websites have signed onto a code of conduct to keep
non-authorized content off their websites and chatrooms.
