China stepping back from proposed blog rules

i fail to see how being required to reveal your name relates to blocking access to certain sites.

it is just an attempt to make it harder for people to be dishonest.

in germany, anybody publishing on the web (actually, anybody publishing anything anywhere, even fliers that you hand out) is required to put their name, address of residence, and a way to directly reach them (email address, contact form, phone number...) onto the publication

german law explains this with the need to protect the consumer, that is, the reader of the website. if you read something you want to know who you are dealing with, and whether this person is genuine.

anybody intentionally ignoring that law can be fined for up to 50.000 euro. (in austria there is a similar law, with fines up to 3000 euro, but i could not find any details as to the definition of the term "service provider" which is used there.)

so if you think, requiring the use of your real name on a blog is drastic, then better have a closer look at the laws elsewhere. you might be surprised.

greetings, eMBee

Hmmm... That applies to individuals as well as businesses? I thought only businesses were required to have that info.

the comments to the law make pretty clear that it applies to anyone who maintains a web publication. that is, if you just temporary post something which is later removed (some photos for your friends to download, or some test pages) then this does not apply, but as soon as your publication is more permanent (which any updated blog would be) then it applies to you. whether you make money from it, or if you are a business or not, has nothing to do with it.

greetings, eMBee.