Real-Name System in the Field of E-commerce has been Imperative
Abstract: With the rapid development of society, internet has become an essential tool of more and more people, meanwhile the development of e-commerce is vigorous and unstoppable, which raises concerns about security of the internet society–a virtual society. To keep the security of the cyber world and avoid the fraud through internet, especially through e-commerce transactions, all parties concerned should try their utmost to promote the development of e-commerce real-name system, which will become a milestone in the development of e-commerce.
With the rapid development of society, internet has become an essential tool of more and more people, even becoming a means of livelihood for somebody. Information from the Ministry of Information & Industry tells us that, as of February this year, the number of netizens of China had reached 221 million, which has surpassed that of the United States. What we can say is that the internet is also a large society. Although this society is virtual, it is already closely related to every aspect of our life. Since such a large group of people live in the virtual society, if there are no laws and regulations and proper guidance of the government, there will be serious social problems,. At present, there are already some persons who use the vulnerabilities of internet for fraud. They usually hide their real identity and use false or anonymous information to get other’s property illegally. Because of the characteristics of the cyber world, such cases are very difficult to be detected. How to deal with Internet fraud and protect network security has become the concerns of the government and the netizens.
The South Korean government had been promoting use of real names on the internet since 2002, and formally launched a real-name system in October of 2005, following several cases of privacy violation and defamation on the internet by anonymous users in the year. So far, South Korea has passed legislation, supervision, management and education measures in several fields, such as the internet mail, web forums, blog and online video. The real-name system was carried out throughout the country, which makes network security of South Korea has become the highest level in the world. Meanwhile, China government also took some measures to promote the development of internet real-name system. The establishment of real-name system has become a trend of the internet world. To some extent, the implementation of real-name system should keep pace with the establishment of legal system and the modernization of society. Therefore, the real-name system has been imperative.
Internet has penetrated into almost every field of human life. Electronic commerce (hereinafter referred to e-commerce) is a typical and very important field. The development of e-commerce is vigorous and unstoppable nowadays. In the year 2007, the volume of China’s B2B e-commerce transactions is up to 1.25 trillion yuan, and this number is expected to reach 1.62 trillion yuan in 2008. From the perspective of both the scale and the pace of development, e-commerce is being integrated with the mainstream economy increasingly. Regarding internet real-name system we discussed above, the implementation of it is even more urgent in the field of e-commerce. Real-name system of e-commerce should become an important symbol of a good e-business environment. All parties concerned should vigorously promote the development of e-commerce real-name system, which will become a milestone in the development of e-commerce.
I’m not sure I agree with this, actually. I can see the advantages in terms of fraud prevention, but the nature of e-commerce is that there will always be someone trying to beat the system, and there will always be someone who succeeds. Just look at music/software piracy and copyright law; regardless of every measure the RIAA has taken to try to prevent piracy, it continues unabated. Fraud, while not as widespread and much more serious, will continue in exactly the same manner–once a single person figures out how to beat any sort of real-name system, the nature of the internet makes that knowledge available to everyone else, and renders the system useless.
The other question, of course, is how far the real-name system would be used. If it were just for e-commerce I wouldn’t really have a problem with it, since we have to enter names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. anyway whenever we make a purchase. But you’ve mentioned real-name systems in bulletin boards or blogs. While I admittedly don’t know much about the regulations in question, part of what makes the internet worthwhile is its ability to conduct discussions and exchanges of ideas anonymously, from all over the world. In this way, no one government or entity can control what is seen on the internet–it is a completely free exchange of ideas. Mandatory real-name systems would threaten this freedom, and I don’t think the gains made in anti-fraud measure would be nearly powerful enough or nearly long-term enough to justify the removal of one of the most important freedoms that the internet offers.
Good idea! I totally agree with you.
Since http://www.madeinchina.com, a famous Chinese B2B website, announced that they are going to adopt the real-name registration system, there have been heated discussions on feasibility of this system. I think its application in the e-commerce industry will be a success but as to the whole internet, it won’t bring much effect.
The aim of the South Korean government promoting this real-name system is to prohibit radical ideas，pornography and violence that have some bad influence on its netizens but according to some reports, little effect has been achieved.
I love how this article comes up the day after I set up my proxy website network.
Anyways, as a big proponent of e-commerce and internet business, I agree with you, Amy, that the oceans of the internet are filled with sharks waiting for that bite. In actuality though, I agree as Nick believes (I also thought of the music industry’s war on piracy), that this system would be impossible to police.
I do not know much about Korea (besides their invention of Taekwondo–it’s awesome by the way–and their love for video games), but I am certain until this is a standard, which will never happen since nobody can really change the internet too much (it has a life of its own), that it will not work. What is to stop a Korean from registering on a foreign site with a fake name or, if his information is being tracked, by using a proxy?
This real name system might be helpful in preventing, and detecting fraud. Is Only S Korea is using this system?
As far as I know, I haven’t heard about another countery adopting this system.