Seems relevant to our WHOIS validation/verification concerns: -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ NNSquad ] Real-Name Registration Threatens the Lively World of China's Microblogs Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:52:14 -0700 From: Lauren Weinstein <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Real-Name Registration Threatens the Lively World of China's Microblogs http://j.mp/zOfthe (Wired) "And all this may change in the face of a new, more stringent policy designed to clamp down on free expression where other methods have been less successful. In a move to exert greater control on citizen speech online, the government is requiring that Sina Weibo and China's other microblogs register the real names and identification cards of users in several cities. Those who do not register this week in many major cities like Beijing will not be allowed to share or forward posts; after a period of testing, the policy will go into effect nationwide." - - - Keep in mind that this article isn't describing a system where users are required to use names that merely look "real," this is a requirement tying usage to actual government IDs. A whole different kettle of fish. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein ([log in to unmask]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad