A popular internet censor agency has declared a sequence of responsibilities for domestic blockchain service providers. All the rules will be effective from the mid-February.
Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has announced an updated “Regulation for Managing Blockchain Information Services” on Thursday. According to CAC, blockchain information service providers are entities or nodes who offer information services to the public utilizing blockchain services through desktop websites or various mobile applications. Furthermore, CAC declared that all the rules and regulations would be effective from 15thFebruary 2019.
There are a total of 23 articles in the document. And one of these articles asks blockchain information service providers to register with CAC within ten days from the day they start offering information services to the Chinese Public.
CAC asks all the blockchain startups to register their names, kind of service they offer, field and their server addresses. Moreover, it strictly prohibits all the startups from using blockchain technology for producing, copying, announcing and circulating information that is against Chinese laws.
If in case, any startup fails to follow these rules, CAC will issue a warning first. In case, the startup could not take up warning seriously, then CAC will put a fine that can range from 5000 Yuan to 30,000 Yuan. Amount of fine will be completely depending upon the severity of the offense.
However, CAC already announced the preliminary version of this blockchain regulatory document in the October month of last year. Also, it included an article that recommended all the blockchain startups working in reporting, publishing, education and the pharmaceutical industry to get licenses from respective authorities before applying for registration with CAC. Though, final blockchain regulatory document does not mention such information.
In the Republic of China, blockchain technology has been used in the past for breaking China’s strict internet censorship. And this event is also famous in China as “The Great Firewall.” For instance, people posted information on ethereum blockchain for avoiding censorship. In this way, they expressed their support for Metro movement and protested against latest pharmaceutical fraud in China.
Blockchain technology is being widely used and misused all across the world. That is why countries are trying to put strict rules and regulations for all the blockchain based startups. Moreover, the blockchain industry is quite innovative and powerful. It has the amazing potential for boosting the growth of various kinds of industries.