Whois requirements are tough? — Think ICANN’s

People who think they have to divulge too much information to ICANN in the Whois directory ought to consider what China requires of web site owners.

China’s government started shutting down web sites days ahead of Christmas if the site owner failed to register with the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII). Big deal, right? Well the government is asking for more than site owner’s names and contact information. You are also required to provide your citizen identification number and your employer name.

Let’s put that in perspective for US citizens. Say you work for IBM during the day but maintain a blog regarding model race cars on the side. If the US had a policy like China, you would be required to register your social security number and that you work for IBM.

An article states: “The MII stated in March that these fresh directories would help authorities shut down Web sites with pornographic, gambling, and other illegal content.”

Funny how MII left out that this will help them shut down web sites with political views contrary to the government.