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Date:         Tue, 20 Jul 1999 22:15:34 -0400
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Subject:      CND-China, July 20, 1999 (CN99-08)
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+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+   C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                       Internet Technologies in China

                           (CND-CN, No. CN99-008)

                              July 20, 1999

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                                ISSN 1024-915X

Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
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1. News Brief (9 Items) ................................................ 203

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1. News Brief (9 Items) ................................................ 203
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  (1) First Web Copyright Lawsuit Filed In China
  (2) China Net Users Reaches 4 Million
  (3) Vanda to Assist Shanghai Postal Bureau with "Green Card" Project
  (4) Alcatel Provides ADSL For Shanghai PTA
  (5) Encryption Software Due for Release in Hong Kong to Assist
        "Electronic Certificate"
  (6) Hong Kong Middle Market E-Commerce Usage Explodes
  (7) Online Lottery Kiosks Launched In Guangzhou
  (8) MyWeb and BTA Launches Low-cost Net Access via TV
  (9) Government Plans to Gear Up Internet Development

                          ____   ____   ____

(1) First Web Copyright Lawsuit Filed In China

[CND, 07/13/99] Six Chinese authors  have filed lawsuit against Beijing
Online in a Beijing court for posting their novels without permission on
its website, Reuters reported.

It marks the first lawsuit in China regarding copyright infringement on
the Internet, an area that the existing Chinese legal framework for
intellectual copyright isn't clear about.

One of the novelists is WANG Meng, the former culture minister.

The lawsuit has sparked much interest in the public as well as debate in
the legal establishment over cyberlaws.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(2) China Net Users Reaches 4 Million

[CND, 07/15/99] The number of people in China using the Internet has
reached 4 million, doubled since the end of last year, Reuters reported
citing a survey results from the China Internet Network Information
Center.

According to the survey, there are 1.46 million computers in China that
are connected to the Internet.  Forty percent of the 52,549 users surveyed
were between 21 and 25 years old, and around 85 percent of users were
male, and 63 percent were single.  Fifty-nine percent of users have
university degrees.

Beijing alone accounted for about 22 percent of the users, while Shanghai
accounted for 8.8 percent.  Most users spend six to ten hours online each
week.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(3) Vanda to Assist Shanghai Postal Bureau with "Green Card" Project

[CND, 07/15/99] Vanda Systems in Hong Kong has been awarded a HK$12
million integration contract from Shanghai Postal Bureau, IT Daily
reports. Together with IBM, Vanda will upgrade the postal bureau's postal
saving services.

The contract is for the "Green Card" project.  The Green Card project has
been under development by China's Postal Bureau since late 1994.  It aims
at upgrading, in seven years, all the technology infrastructure related to
delivering postal services in cities as well as linking up its networks.

Of the over 10,000 localities that offer postal saving services, some
2,400 locations have been able to provide basic banking services.

Users can deposit and withdraw money as well as receiving deposits for
salaries or pensions from their account at the postal bureaus.

The local postal bureaus are also exploring possibilities to provide new
services such as e-mail and e-commerce.

Vanda will install IBM's RS/6000 servers for the Shanghai Postal Bureau.
(Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(4) Alcatel Provides ADSL For Shanghai PTA

[CND, 07/15/99] Alcatel has been awarded a contract to supply its range of
ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) products to
Shanghai PTA, IT Daily reports.

The products are to be the key component of the Shanghai Hotline, a major
part of the on-going Shanghai Infoport project.

Local subscribers will be provided with high-speed access to the Internet,

The contract will include deployment of Alcatel's ASAM (ADSL subscriber
access multiplexer) central office system, the Speed Touch range of ADSL
modems, DANA (Data Application Network Adapter) and SMC (Service
Management Center).

ADSL (and xDSL in general) is still a new technology in the United States,
where it was first developed.  Its downstream speed can be as fast as 1.5
Mbps, approaching that of T1.  Some xDSL line can even provide speed as
fast as 7 or 8 Mbps.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(5) Encryption Software Due for Release in Hong Kong to Assist "Electronic
      Certificate"

[CND, 07/16/99] With the intent to make electronic transactions more
secure, a preliminary version of encryption software will be soon released
in Hong Kong, AFP reported quoting Dr Lucas HUI, director of University of
Hong Kong's Center for Information Security and Cryptography.

The final version of the encryption software, called Strong Cryptographic
Library Client Suite, will be released in October.  Dr Hui thinks "It is
necessary for local industries to develop their own cryptographic
technology."  Some western countries, the United States in particular,
have strict export control on encryption software.

According to Dr. Hui, locally developed encryption software will fit in
with the Hong Kong government's plan to allow people to apply for
electronic identities.

Since last December, all Hong Kong identity card holders can apply at the
post office for an "electronic certificate"  which will put an encoded
"private key" signature on all their electronic transcations.

After the pending legislative bills are passed, such signatures will carry
the same legal weight as paper signatures.  All personal information
relating to this signature will be securely stored at the post office, or
at any other certification authority.  (Ray ZHANG, Charles MOK)
                          ____   ____   ____

(6) Hong Kong Middle Market E-Commerce Usage Explodes

[CND, 07/18/99] Middle-market companies in Hong Kong have dramatically
increased their
use of the Internet to buy, sell and bank in the last 12 months, IT Daily
reported citing a study by business research company PSI Global.

According to the study, telephone interviews conducted with 708 companies
with annual sales between US$10 million to $250 million, 89 percent of
them are using the Internet--a 31 percent increase in the last year; 63
percent have a Website; and 25 percent makes online purchases.

Fourty percent of them use PC banking applications and six percent have
moved to Web-based delivery of banking service.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(7) Online Lottery Kiosks Launched In Guangzhou

[CND, 07/18/99] CathayOnline, the company that operates Chinese ISPs
ChengduNet and TorchNet, has launched its first Internet lottery kiosks in
Guangzhou, IT Daily reported.

To start with, the company launched its local lottery business with three
kiosks, but plans to have up to 200 installed by the end of next July.

According to Cathay officials, the company expectes to earn an annual net
income of US$1.75 to $2.25 million.

The lottery industry in China is still in its infancy.  Only recently the
government started to relax its strict policies against gambling.
Lotteries that are allowed are ntended to raise money for government and
charitable projects.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(8) MyWeb and BTA Launches Low-cost Net Access via TV

[CND, 07/20/99] Malaysia-based MyWeb announced that it has joined with
Beijing Telegraph Administration (BTA), a subsidiary of China Telecom, to
offer low price Internet access through television sets, Reuters reported.

According to a statement from BTA , it is offering people who buy a MyWeb
TV set-top box before the end of October two free hours online and low
price Internet access.

The TV set-top box runs on slimmed-down operating system and has a phone
jack that connects television sets to the Internet.  It sells for 1,488
yuan, a fraction of the price of a typical personal computer.

MyWeb and BTA will share resources to draw Chinese people online, the
statement said.  (Ray ZHANG, Charles MOK)
                          ____   ____   ____

(9) Government Plans to Gear Up Internet Development

[CND, 07/20/99] The government plans to provide a better environment for
Internet development, Reuters reported quoting a Ministry of Information
Industry (MII) official.

According to a report on Internet development just released by the China
Internet Network Information Center, Chinese Internet users are
concentrated mainly in large and developed cities and provinces such as
Shanghai, Guangdong and Beijing.

The number of users in most remote areas is less than than one percent.

Internet surfers are dissatisfied with slow net-surfing speeds, high fees
and insufficient information, said the report.

CHEN Yin, director of the development and planning section of MII, thought
that bandwidth does not meet users' demand and said that related
departments are making efforts to catch up with international standards in
this regard in a bid to increase surfing speed.

Chen further added that the security department has stepped up efforts to
establish network and information security systems, and by early next
century it will come up with a schedule to provide all primary and
secondary schools in China with Internet access.  (Ray ZHANG, Charles MOK)

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