An increasing number of Chinese websites and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are signing a " self-discipline pact" designed to prevent cyber crime, the spread of harmful information and unhealthy competition, sources within the country's booming Internet sector said.

According to a China Internet Association official, the pact explicitly bans signatories from producing, releasing or spreading material "harmful to national security and social stability" or " in violation of the law".

The signatories also are responsible for advising Internet surfers to "use the web in a civilized way" and "avoid any content that breaches others' intellectual property rights", the official added.

The pact, initiated on March 16 by the Beijing-based China Internet Association, a national self-governing body for the country's Internet sector, was first signed by a group of leading websites and Internet companies in Beijing.

In the following few months, major Internet companies in such provinces as Guizhou, Fujian, Liaoning and Hubei have followed suit.

In north China's major city of Tianjin, where 22 local websites and ISPs have just signed the pact, an official of the local telecommunications administration said signing the pact was voluntary but only legally registered Internet companies were eligible to sign.

According to the latest statistics, by April this year China had 38.52 million Internet users and nearly 280,000 websites with over 13 million computers having access to the Internet.

(China Daily July 5, 2002)