GAPP Issues Draft Online Publishing Regulations
Sina Tech, 8/30/10
China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) issued its "Notice Regarding the Healthy Development of Online Publishing" on August 26 for public review and comment. GAPP stated it will regulate the online publishing activities of all types of publication (books, newspapers, periodicals, audiovisual products and electronic publications), and in order to make publications available in online bookstores, publishers must obtain both a Publication Operations Permit and Audiovisual Product Operations Permit in advance.
According to the Notice, in order to apply to become a licensed publications online distribution company, applicants must meet Provision 8 of the Publications Market Supervisory Regulations, which requires publishers to have at least RMB 2 mln in registered capital, have offices no smaller than 50 square meters in total, and have the approval of press and publication authorities in their province, autonomous region or municipality.
Companies engaged in online publishing prior to the release of this notice have until September 30 to meet the requirements of the notice and obtain a Publication Operations Permit from their local news publishing authorities. Companies that fail to comply after the September 30 deadline will be banned by local publishing authorities, and telecommunication authorities will be alerted to shut down any illegal websites.
Keywords: Internet online publishing GAPP license regulation
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