Go Daddy, the world's largest registrar of domain names, to stop registering domains related to China's national top level domain. Cn. This writes both the Washington Post and AP news agency.
Go Daddys decision should not be tied to Google's censorship battle with the Chinese authorities.
Instead, this is done as a protest against the new demands the Chinese government makes to those who register Chinese domain names.
In December last year, China began to enforce new regulations requiring that all who have registered. Cn domain, must submit, among other things, a portrait image in color, Chinese organization and signature on a physical paper form. This must then be sent by the registrar to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).
- We are immediately concerned about the motives for the increased degree of registrant-verified as being required, "said Christine N. Jones, general counsel for Go Daddy during a congressional hearing on China that took place yesterday.
Arvind Ganesan, Business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch, says the Washington Post that the underlying cause is that the Chinese authorities want to know who engaged in political expression and the site is behind this.
- This is the way the Chinese government send a chilling message to people that they should not speak freely on the web. This forces companies to both to be the sensor and spy on behalf of the Chinese government, "said Ganesan.
According to the AP has Go Daddy asked the total of 1200 customers, which together have 27 000. Cn domains, to send the necessary additional information. But only 20 percent have so far done this. It will not be possible to register new Chinese domain name with Go Daddy.
The same applies to the registrar Network Solutions, which should have ceased to do so as early as December last year.
