China’s New Internet Restrictions Could Apply To Law Firms

Publisher of online content must now get a license, and in order to do it they need to meet some strict and parochial requirements, including having a Chinese legal representative and at least eight full-time, accredited, editing and publishing staff. One increasingly popular type of joint venture between Chinese and western companies will be affected, says this post from Dorsey & Whitney, which looks at what’s clear and what remains to be clarified in these new rules. There’s some question regarding whether or not they will apply to law and accounting firms that publish free content online. Are they too “internet publishing services”?