Internet information service providers to be regulated and supervised

While the internet industry has grown quickly in recent years, the law has not kept pace. As a result, gaps and ambiguities have appeared. Last year saw a succession of disputes between the large internet service providers in the PRC. Those that attracted the most attention were the “3Q war” (the dispute between Qihoo 360 and Tencent QQ), the unfair competition suit by Kingsoft against 360, and the unfair competition suit by Baidu against 360. These disputes prompted government authorities and industry associations to accelerate the formulation of new rules and regulations. On 12 January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the Regulation and Supervision of the Order of the Internet Information Services Market Interim Measures (Draft for Comment).

Unfair competition

Article 6 of the Measures provides that the following acts by an internet information service provider constitute acts of unfair competition:

(1) fabricating and disseminating untruths, or maliciously denigrating the lawful products or services provided by a competitor, thereby harming that competitor’s good name or the reputation of its merchandise;