New Chinese Rule Requires Real Names Online

crimeandpunishment writes "According to a human rights group, a leading Chinese Internet regulator is calling for new rules requiring people to use their real names online and when buying mobile phones. New York-based 'Human Rights in China' says it has obtained the complete text of a speech Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, made in April, and they quote him as saying 'We will make the Internet real name system a reality as soon as possible.'"

Not actually done, just a proposal

[Meshach]

From TFA:

A leading Chinese Internet regulator has vowed to reduce anonymity in China's portion of cyberspace, calling for new rules to require people to use their real names when buying a mobile phone or going online, according to a human rights group

It looks like some people want that to be the law, not that it is the law.

Re:Does this really do a lot of good?

[SquarePixel]

Any guess on how many people share the name "Wang Chen" in all of China? Chances are most people could use their real name and still remain relatively anonymous.

Uh, you are talking about "westernized" names. They're quite different to their real names. Also, a lot of Asian countries tend to shorten their names in casual usage and only use the real long name in official situations. For example Thai people have really long names, but casually everyone shortens it to the first 3-4 letters.

Re:Does this really do a lot of good?

[matunos]

I don't know about Wang Chen, but I've heard that everybody will Wang Chung tonight.

Re:Why do you need to be anonymous at all?

[inviolet]

Although I never agreed with totality control, from sometime ago to this date, I started to change my mind about anonymous everything. I really started to suspect that the most interested parties are criminals. Well, as Google said, if you don't have anything to hide, why are you so afraid of not being anonymous at all? I can't see the point.

Because sometimes, society is mistaken about what it considers to be wrong. In that situation, which in my opinion is very very common, privacy allows you to act morally.

Recent examples come to mind:

• Be a Catholic in England
• Be a Protestant in England
• Be an atheist in many countries
• Spank your kids
• Teach your kids evolution
• Be gay
• Be Jewish in Mexico or Germany
• Discuss any of that stuff on the internet

Re:Why do you need to be anonymous at all?

[NetSettler]

• It may also be necessary for the personal safety of people who are being stalked, doing whistleblowing, or even just dating and wanting to chat without committing.
• It can be necessary to express any unpopular political opinion. Note that popular opinions require no protection but that if we assume that what's popular never changes we can just have one vote and then be done and never vote again. All political change begins as a minority viewpoint. For example, labor organization is more easily suppressed if one can keep the organization from ever happening. The movement to stop a war might start small.
• For some public figures, it allows the freedom to relax and speak without having their political motives challenged or their well-known credentials inappropriately applied since their voice is not as loud as when it is their well-known self, and since anonymous speech is evaluated for the worth of the statement rather than for who said it.
• It allows the underappreciated option of having an opinion you might later want to change without being quoted for life.
• It allows one to perform an act like shopping without having marketers of the future be able to log the action as a sign of potential interest.
• On juries (and in paper review for refereed scientific and technical journals, for that matter), anonymous voting is considered a way of encouraging frankness and honesty.
• In voting for politicians and political initiatives, it is considered a way to assure that votes are hard to buy or force because compliance with an improper promise or attempted coercion is not possible to track.
• Certain people will not approach a help desk for things like medical care, contemplating suicide, or other issues if they don't believe it's anonymous.
• Some people are just shy and prefer to speak anonymously.
• Some religions teach that it's more humble to contribute money, time, energy, etc.) anonymously, not drawing attention to self.

Re:It's being done in the US too

[Anonymous Coward]

There are plenty of other people that you should fear. I think that it's Dateline that ran all those child predator expose's - if you're young and female, and the predator can get your name and location, they'll come flocking to your door. Hell, if you're young and MALE, a different predator will come to your door, too. Then, there are the predators who prefer the more mature females.

Oh, please. Even leaving aside the unpleasant truth that most child abusers are the child's own close acquaintances, not strangers at all, child abuse is simply completely irrelevant to the issue of real names. Merely putting a child's name out there does not put them at risk; the predator has to groom the child personally and persuade him/her to agree to a meeting. And he does not have to know the child's real name at any point; he can groom "SparklyUnicorn521" just as easily as "Jane Smith".

Alright, let's forget about sex predators.

Good idea.

How about more "normal" thieves, muggers, and robbers.

How are they normal? Do you live in some kind of crime-ridden hellhole? Certainly it would be unwise to make a public posting online stating your exact address and details of when your home will be unoccupied, but I don't quite see how using your real name makes you any more likely to be targeted.

Muggers, in particular, are a ridiculous thing to bring up. They are petty opportunists; they will try to take your wallet and your phone if they catch you walking alone down a dark street in a bad part of town, but I cannot conceive of any scenario where someone will spot your real name online and say "hey, I'm going to hunt this person down and mug him!"

But, you MIGHT come to the attention of some kid who needs to impress his gang, so he decides to come to your house and kill you.

What the fuck are you smoking?! What kind of lawless dystopia do you live in where people search the Internet for strangers' names and then randomly go and murder them?

Oh - don't forget. The clown(s) who show up to take you out will probably see your wife and kids, and use them for amusement after they knock you off.

You are clearly severely mentally disturbed. Please seek professional help before you do something you regret.

BTW, while I'm anonymous today, I have posted things on the Internet under my real name many times. So far the number of times I have been murdered and my wife and children raped is precisely zero.

Seriously, get help.

Re:It's being done in the US too

[Amarantine]

Yes, to prevent the guy in front of you from buying all the iPads and reselling them on eBay for 200%. If Apple didn't do this, you'd be complaining that they made it impossible to buy an iPad because eBay-traders would buy them all. Apple can never do things right. Oh, and this policy has been lifted, now the initial demand has levelled off and availability is no longer a problem.