Shanghai Daily is reporting that the Chinese government is planning to require prepaid cell phone users to register their identity in an effort to fight cell phone-related crimes and fraud.<\/p>\n
From the article —<\/p>\n
CHINA may soon require more than 200 million prepaid cell phone users to register with mobile operators by showing their identity documents, the Ministry of Information Industry said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The “real identity” policy, which has been effective in Shanghai since September last year, would require new handset buyers nationwide to produce identity documents before they’re given a phone.<\/p>\n
“We hope to issue the regulations on mobile card registration by the end of this year,” said Wang Lijian, a ministry spokesman. He declined to reveal details about the policy.<\/p>\n
The new regulation would be the latest move in the nation’s fight against unsolicited advertisements, fake educational certificates and bank fraud via short messages.<\/p>\n
Except in Shanghai, China’s residents can obtain mobile phone service without providing personal details if they chose prepaid card services, making it difficult to capture those involved in phone-related scams.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n