Relevant departments should crack down on unauthorized cyber cafes
and simplify procedures for legal Internet cafe applications, said
Huang Chengqing, vice secretary of China Internet Network
Association.
On
June 16, 24 people were killed in a fire at the Lanjisu Cyber Cafi,
located in Beijing's Haidian District. The fatal blaze has exposed
the fact that many cyber cafes pose hidden dangers.
Beijing now has over 2,400 cyber cafes. Most of them do not have
completed the necessary official formalities. Under the auspices of
Ministry of Culture, Chinese cyber cafes are supervised by
administrative bureaus for industry and commerce, and the public
security agencies.
Huang appealed for relevant departments to simplify the procedures
for Internet cafi applications so as to provide convenience in
regulating market management. Applicants now have to go to many
departments to obtain their business license, which gives the rise
to illegal cyber cafes. Meanwhile, cyber cafi owners should also
receive proper training in handling the communication functions of
the Internet.
Huang said that many owners of cyber cafes have strongly appealed
for the establishment of a self-discipline association to protect
their legal business activities and provide them with a sound
market environment. This is said to be under consideration.
Administrative departments should not close all cyber cafes just
because of one single incident. They should actively develop the
cyber cafes by strengthening their management, Huang added.
(china.org.cn by Unisumoon, June 22, 2002)