   China forces real-name telecoms registration  Published time:
December 28, 2012 11:05 Edited time: December 28, 2012 15:05 AFP
Photo / Mark Ralston  AFP Photo / Mark Ralston  Chinese
telecommunication companies will require ID from their customers
before installing a landline, selling a mobile phone service
contract or giving access to the internet. Critics call the new
rules an assault on freedom of speech.  The real-name
registration rule was passed Friday by the Standing Committee of
the National People's Congress, China’s top legislative body.
The 12-article document also set rules on how the companies have
to manage the personal data of their customers, their
responsibility for illegal use of the information and the way
who governmental regulators and the customers can oversee it,
reports Xinhua news agency.  It also specifically forbids
sending any business-related messages to phones or personal
emails without owner consent, which is meant to curb spamming.
The move is meant to "ensure internet info