中國網管新規限制外國公司發佈在線內容
China is taking another step to restrict what can be posted on the Internet in its country by issuing new rules barring foreign companies or their affiliates from engaging in publishing online content there without government approval.
中國正在採取又一項舉措來限制該國互聯網上發佈的內容。新的規定將禁止外國公司或其分支機構在未經政府批准的情況下發佈網上內容。
The rules, which were jointly released this week by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that beginning March 10, foreign companies or foreign joint ventures will be restricted from disseminating a wide range of content online, including text, maps, games, animation, audio and video.
這些規定由國家新聞出版廣電總局與工業和信息化部在本週聯合發佈，將從3月10日起施行。它對外資或中外合資企業發佈多種類型的網上內容進行了限制，包括文字、地圖、遊戲、動漫、音頻和視頻。
The rules also apply to digitized books, art, literature and science. The new regulations would allow foreign-owned companies to cooperate with a Chinese partner to publish content on the Web in China, but they must get government approval.
該規定也適用於數字化圖書、藝術、文學和科學領域的作品。新的規定允許外國公司與中國合作伙伴一起，在中國的網絡上發佈內容，但必須獲得政府的批准。
China already has some of the world’s most restrictive policies on the dissemination of information. Chinese TV and the news media are censored; the government has censors monitoring popular social media platforms, like WeChat; and American Internet giants, like Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, have been blocked in China for years.
對於信息的傳播，中國的政策已經屬於世界上最嚴格的級別。中國電視和新聞媒體遭到審查；政府安排審查人員對微信等人氣社交媒體平臺進行監控；像谷歌(Google)、Facebook、YouTube和Twitter這樣的美國互聯網巨頭，常年在中國遭到屏蔽。
Legal scholars say the new rules seem aimed at restricting any type of content that might be considered a threat to the Communist Party, or social stability, with the regulations hinting at a greater effort to bring anything published by foreign entities under Chinese law.
一些法律學者表示，新的規定似乎旨在限制被認爲對共產黨、對社會穩定構成威脅的任何內容，而此舉意味着，他們在加大力度，用中國法律來管控外國機構在這裏發佈的所有東西。
“This is the latest in a series of legal changes that seek to restrict the influence of foreign or western ideas,” said Jacques deLisle, an authority on Chinese law who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. “And it’s also part of a larger attempt to exercise control over the Internet and new media.”
“中國進行了一系列法律變動，試圖限制境外或西方觀念的影響，這是最新的一例，”中國法律方面的權威、賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)的法學教授戴傑(Jacques deLisle)說。“而且，這也是他們控制互聯網和新媒體的嘗試之一。”
The new regulations, though, do not detail exactly what types of content and which organizations would be affected. Though the new rules, for example, might seem to apply to foreign news organizations in China, existing rules already restrict global media outlets from posting content on the Internet using servers inside China. Most global news outlets, including The New York Times, are published on servers outside China, and are unlikely to be affected by the new rules.
不過，新規定並沒有詳細闡述它適用於哪些類型的內容，以及哪些組織。比如，它似乎可以適用於在中國的境外新聞機構，但是現有規定已經對跨國媒體使用中國境內的服務器在互聯網上發佈內容進行了限制。大多數全球性新聞媒體，包括《紐約時報》在內，都把內容放在中國境外的服務器上，因此不太可能受到新規定的影響。
Still, legal experts say the regulations announced this week are broad enough to pose challenges to a wide range of foreign multinationals operating in China, since many of them act as distributors of online content or services.
不過，法律專家表示，本週公佈的規定覆蓋面比較廣泛，可能會對在中國經營的很多境外跨國公司形成挑戰，因爲其中不少機構提供網絡內容或服務。
There are also questions about how such regulations would be enforced, and what types of companies would be considered distributors of online content. As a result, they could raise market-access issues for foreign companies in China ahead of trade talks with the United States.
此外，這些規定將如何施行，什麼類型的公司將被視爲在線內容渠道，也都還是未知數。因此，這可能會在今後的中美貿易談判中，提出外企在中國的市場準入問題。
Analysts say Chinese laws are often vague and broad, which gives regulators the ability to claim greater jurisdiction. As a result, how laws are implemented is often more important than the letter of the law.
分析人士稱，中國的法律往往比較籠統，覆蓋面廣泛，從而爲監管機構提供了宣稱較大管轄權的便利。其結果就是，法律的施行方式往往比條文本身更加重要。
One key question is the impact such regulations would have on companies like Apple and Microsoft, which run online platforms in China that provide services and sometimes content. For example, Apple’s Chinese App Store offers games and other apps in the country while Microsoft has a joint venture through which it provides a cloud version of Windows and Office software. Internet companies, like Akamai and Cloud Flare, have operations that work to speed traffic to foreign websites or host them through servers in China.
一個關鍵問題是，這些規定會對蘋果(Apple)、微軟(Microsoft)這樣的公司產生怎樣的影響。這些公司在中國經營在線平臺，既提供服務，有時也提供內容。例如，蘋果的中國應用商店面向該國公衆發佈遊戲等應用，而微軟成立了一家合資企業，通過它提供Windows和Office軟件的雲版本。還有像Akamai和Cloud Flare這樣的互聯網公司，它們或者加快接連境外網站的速度，或者用中國境內的服務器託管外國網站。
A large number of foreign games for smartphones are released through joint ventures between Chinese companies and multinationals, and it appears the new regulations could affect those partnerships.
大量國外的智能手機遊戲通過中國公司和跨國公司的合資企業發佈，而新的規定可能會影響到這種合作。
Multinational companies have long complained that the rules in China are discriminatory. Foreign firms need licenses that can be difficult to get to operate web services in China, and there are restrictions on their ability to invest in many Chinese sectors. Several big companies, including Microsoft, have also been the subject of anti-trust investigations.
跨國公司長期以來一直抱怨中國的規定具有歧視性。外企要獲得中國運營網絡服務的許可證或許會面臨困難，還有一些規定對它們在中國很多領域的投資進行了限制。包括微軟在內的幾家大公司還在遭受反壟斷調查。
The regulations stipulate that anything published online should “serve the people” and promote socialism and do no harm to national interests, barring, for instance, the spreading of rumors or propagating evil cults.
這個規定表示，在網上發表內容應該“爲人民服務”，爲社會主義服務，不能損害國家利益，不得散佈謠言、宣揚邪教等等。
Paul Gillis, an accounting expert who teaches at Peking University in Beijing, says a lot will also be determined by the way China executes and enforces the rules, since there is tremendous variation in the way laws are enacted and enforced in the country and to whom they apply.
在北京大學任教的會計專家保羅·吉利斯(Paul Gillis)表示，許多事情取決於中國貫徹執行這些規定的方式，因爲在中國，法律適用於哪些對象、如何貫徹執行，存在着千差萬別。
“What about law firms and accounting firms — are they going to be subject to these rules?” he said. “And what about companies that just have an instruction manual online, are they also going to fall under this type of rule?”
“律師事務所和會計師事務所怎麼辦——它們需要遵循這些規定嗎？”他發問。“只在網上發佈了一份操作指南的公司呢，它們也要遵循這種類型的規定嗎？”
