Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: puborectalis who wrote (93874)	12/12/1999 6:57:00 PM
From: dan pearson	Respond to of 186894

Thanks for that link!! Boy are they ever deciding to enforce this at the worst possible time......now they'll not be y2k compliant?!! "Lebanon blocks import of Intel computers BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Airport customs officials have blocked imports of computers using components from U.S.-based Intel because of a law that bans dealings with companies with links to Israel, local newspapers reported Saturday. " ...dkp... www1.50megs.com

To: puborectalis who wrote (93874)	12/12/1999 7:47:00 PM
From: VICTORIA GATE, MD	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

AWSJ: Foreign Internet Investors In China Face Roadblocks Sunday, December 12, 1999 06:00 PM Mail this article to a friend By Leslie Chang And Ian Johnson Staff Reporters BEIJING - Foreign investors in China's Internet sector face a barrage of regulations despite a recent trade deal with the U.S. that had appeared to throw open the field to them, one of China's top ministers said. In a wide-ranging interview, Minister of Information Industries Wu Jichuan gave details of planned regulations that could rein in China's freewheeling Internet sector. He said new laws will require content on Internet sites to be regulated by Beijing, that all Internet companies will need licenses for their respective businesses, and that foreign investors will need official approval before taking stakes in such companies. Most significantly, the 62-year-old career telecommunications bureaucrat said Internet companies with greater than 50% foreign investment will be "dealt with" so they match the terms of the Sino-U.S. deal on China's accession to the World Trade Organization. That deal will cap foreign ownership at 50% two years after China joins the global trade body. "Clearly these businesses are in violation of current Chinese policies (and) we shall find an appropriate way to address it," said Mr. Wu, surrounded by half a dozen of his top lieutenants. Otherwise, he added, "upon accession to WTO, we will be on unequal footing." Question of Authority In the first extensive comments by a top Chinese official since the landmark trade deal last month between China and the U.S., Mr. Wu also reiterated his determination to ban a kind of joint venture used by foreign firms to invest in mobile-phone sys tems, and said China plans to press ahead with a next-generation mobile-phone technology developed by a U.S. company. He also stressed that he and the rest of China's cabinet fully back the WTO deal, which he reportedly had opposed earlier this year. "My understanding of this issue is completely aligned with the understanding of the premier and each of the other government departments," he said. Mr. Wu represents one of many camps seeking to put their stamp on how the WTO deal will be interpreted, especially for the country's Internet businesses. Although he stunned the industry in September when he said foreign investment in Internet companies was illegal, many say the WTO agree ment has crimped his influence. Other government agencies, including those that handle press regulation and public security, are pressing into Mr. Wu's bailiwick. "Whether his ministry has the authority over the Internet remains to be seen," said Victor Koo, chief financial officer at Sohu.com, a leading portal targeting China that has extensive foreign investment. Still, Mr. Wu remains one of the top ministers in China, with vast influence over the telecommunications industry, which boasts the second-largest fixed-line network in the world and one of the world's fastest-growing mobile-phone systems. He also most directly influences China's Internet sector, which has an estimated $100 million foreign investment from companies such as Yahoo! Inc., Intel Corp. and Goldman, Sachs & Co., as well as Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newspaper. Contradicting Washington Mr. Wu's comments almost directly contradict earlier U.S. statements that such in vestments could now flow unimpeded. U.S. officials have said that the WTO deal would exempt existing Internet ventures from caps on foreign investment. Foreign investment in Internet content providers is "no longer an issue. We have rights to invest," U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Bar shefsky said on the day the deal was signed. But, according to Mr. Wu, it won't be that simple. Besides holding foreign investment to 50%, the government will require ministries to monitor Internet sites - an effort to rein in what Chinese leaders see as a potential threat to control. Currently, sites practice self-censorship to avoid offending the government. "We will not allow the introduction of trash that is harmful to the people," Mr. Wu said. Sites will also have to be better licensed, he said. Hundreds of companies have set up shop, from online auction houses to news Web sites, most with only a standard business license. But Mr. Wu said China will introduce new rules that, for example, would require advertising or auction licenses. "Whether your business be high-tech communications or selling fruit, you need a license," Mr. Wu said. Internet executives say Mr. Wu's comments could scare off some investors who have been aggressively scouting China since the WTO deal was reached. "When you make an investment, you like to be welcomed by the government," said a top executive at one Internet company focused on China. "No one wants to play hardball to try to get into this market." But some entrepreneurs already running Internet firms say Mr. Wu's comments won't hurt business. "We feel we can still grow while being mindful of the government's preference," said Fritz Demopoulos, director of U.S.-owned Sharkwave Information Technologies Co., which runs a Web site devoted to Chinese sports. Industry executives also point out that there are ways around the rules, common in bureaucratic China and easy in the borderless world of the Internet. Companies could evade restrictions on foreign capital by channeling money through a company in Hong Kong, disguising it as payment for services rather than calling it investment. "People will get around it or China's Internet won't get the money it needs and the country's economy will suffer," said an executive at one Internet company. Ban Stands In other areas, Mr. Wu dashed hopes that China's entry into the WTO would cause the government to reconsider a ban on gray-area investments known as China-China-foreign ventures. Companies such as Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Bell Canada International Inc. and Sprint Corp. have used the complex investment struc ture to invest a total of more than $1.5 billion in a Chinese telephone company. "Since these projects are in violation of existing policies, we need to correct them immediately," said Dai Shuang, who heads the ministry's general planning department. "WTO does not change this at all." Mr. Wu had welcome news, however, for companies selling a new mobile-phone technology known as CDMA, which was developed by Qualcomm Inc. and is sold by Motorola Inc. and other companies. Although China announced earlier this year that it would adopt the new technology, CDMA hasn't spread beyond four test cities and officials have said they met "technical problems" in rolling out the technology. Mr. Wu said his ministry is still committed to CDMA, adding that there is "a process of building and development that must take place." Mr. Wu also showed off the feisty character that has made him one of the best-known personalities in China's often faceless bureaucracy. He said he personally likes to visit Internet sites that provide news, but declined to name favorites. "Once I say one but not another," he said, "someone will make complaints about me."