Academics and officials in China Monday brushed off a recent media
report that had claimed outgoing emails could face an
across-the-board embargo from foreign Internet-based firms and
organizations worried about junk mail.
Officials from the
Ministry of the Information Industry said the blockage was only
targeting a small number of email servers in China.
An
official who declined to be named said: "Only a few email service
providers are blocked by outside sources. I do not see that there
is a big problem. If you doubt that, just try to email your friends
outside China."
The news broke last Friday when Nanfang Weekend, a
Guangzhou-based weekly, reported that Chinese email servers were
being blocked from outside. Zeng Xiaozhen, a legislator from
Northeast China's Jilin Province, said junk mail should be dealt
with in a global effort via laws and consultation.
It
quoted the UXN.com, a London-based Internet business dealer, as
saying that China was growing into a source of junk mail.
UXN.com has compiled a global blacklist, vowing to block emails
from 84 servers. Among them are Chinese cyber firms such as Sina,
Sohu and NetEase.
Mike Andrews, a chief state government network administrator in the
United States, said: "We see four (thousand) to 10,000 junk mails
from China to our network every day at work. Most of them are from
commercial sources in China, asking me to buy cloth, metal,
electronics and other goods."
Sina said some emails sent from it were blocked by some small
foreign firms but its business relationship was good with large
Internet firms such as Yahoo and Hotmail.
Liu Yunli, Sina's chief technology officer, ruled out the
possibility of an all-out blockage against emails from China.
Liu's words were echoed by Zeng Xiaozhen, a legislator from
Northeast China's Jilin Province. Zeng said he had no problem
corresponding by email with his son in the United States.
Internet firms and anti-spam experts reached by China Daily
said other countries had been affected, such as Japan, Singapore
and South Korea.
Peter da Silva, a Canada-based anti-spam expert, said an inordinate
number of Chinese hosts are open relays -- that is, they will
accept mail from anyone and deliver it anywhere.
The United States and Europe have mapped out laws to curb junk mail
but China, a latecomer to the cyber community, has yet to draw up
any specific legal weapon against the problem.
The Chinese mainland has witnessed an explosive growth in Internet
users, who numbered 33.7 million at the end of last year. Official
statistics indicate that, for every user, there are 2.2 email
accounts and 6.8 items of mail are sent out every day.
Analysts said China's entry into the World Trade Organization last
year will be another catalyst for international email
exchanges.
Legislator Zeng said junk mail should be dealt with in a global
effort via laws and consultation.
"Many developing countries, such as China, are short of advanced
know how on checking the flood of junk mail. It needs global
cooperation to put the nuisance in check," said Zeng.
(China Daily March 5,
2002)