BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- China's Ministry of Culture (MOC) in Beijing on Thursday announced regulations tightening its management of Internet cafes and the Internet's negative
influences.
  
   The MOC is in charge of Internet bars and relevant service
providers who trade creative works, videos, Internet games and
performances through Internet technology.
   
   Zhang Xinjian, deputy director of the cultural industry
division of the MOC, said that currently some Internet cafes
illegally traded in contraband videos, and auctioned and sold
pirated works of art. Some Internet cafes offered on-line games
featuring pornography, gambling, violence and fetishism, and some
unlicensed premises even allowed in minors, which totally violated
Chinese law.
  
   The MOC regulations involve not only specific requirements for
setting up Internet cafes, but also certifications for cafe
proprietors and entry registration for consumers. 
  
    Under the regulations, minors may enter Internet cafes only
during school holidays and stay on-line for three hours at most.
Those under 16 years of age can go to Internet bars only with
teachers.
  
   MOC will also join other government administrations in
developing professional software to safeguard China's Internet
service.
  
   Availability of the Internet as represented by the cafes, has
grown rapidly in China in recent years. Provisional figures show
that by the end of this March, China had 200,000 Internet cafes.
But around 17,000 have so far been closed down due to illegal
activities, and 28,000 have applied for licenses.  Enditem