The real-name system could be regarded as a way to boost social order. Having an orderly society is not only the responsibility of the government but also the duty of citizens.

Guo Yanbing (People's Post and Telecom-munications Daily): Some people are worried that, without a complete individual credit system and effective personal information protection, the real-name system will open the door to criminals instead of curbing problems such as spam messages.

If we regard regulating short messages as a kind of post-crisis management, the real-name system is a precautionary measure taken before problems occur. The implementation of a real-name system not only lays the foundation for an individual credit system in the communications market, but also makes a contribution to setting up the personal profile and individual credit evaluation system of China in the future.

Restrictive

Cao Lin (China Youth Daily): Advocates of the cellphone real-name registration system often say, "As long as you don't intend to do anything wrong with your cellphone, you won't care whether the real-name registration system is adopted or not." Some others also promote the real-name system in the name of citizens' responsibility. The strong hatred of spam messages seems to have left some cellphone users unconditionally open to the real-name system.

Actually, it's not that only those who want to commit some kind of fraud are against this real-name system. A lot of honest people are also unwilling to expose their personal conversations to others, such as romantic messages to lovers, reports to senior leaders and even gossip with friends. The individual's right to privacy is enshrined by law.

Thus, real-name registration is not only connected with wrongdoing, but also relates to individuals' privacy. I have done nothing wrong, but in order to protect my privacy I still oppose real-name registration for cellphones.

Rhetoric, such as "If you have nothing to hide you won't oppose this system," is often the message bandied about.

In modern society, citizens' privacy should be protected as much as possible. Indeed, righteous and law-abiding citizens do not mind leaving their real names after completing a task. However, if they are asked to do so again and again, they'll feel insecure because their privacy is under scrutiny. We are supposed to have the right to do things without being watched, but the real-name requirement on many occasions is eating into our freedom.

Chen Jibing (Shanghai Morning Post): Spam messages are becoming increasingly serious with the rocketing penetration of cellphones among the Chinese. I believe getting cellphone users to register their real names will help to curb this trend, but this practice is not consistent with the rule of law. The logic behind the real-name system is like this: If something is likely to facilitate crime, then we must restrict it. Going on with this logic, if the real-name registration cannot help, we need to further strengthen the restriction. For example, purchasers must go through background checks and only those who have a good track record can have access to cellphones.

The key to the problem is not that cellphones are sold when purchasers' real names are unknown, but that cellphone users are too frequently harassed. In days when there were no cellphones, fraud and harassment were already common, and now cellphones just offer another channel for crime. What we need to do is to crack down on the crime itself instead of on the new technology and new tools.

Ma Qingzheng (www.china.com.cn): At a time when fake ID cards are frequently caught, to adopt the real-name registration system is a hard job. In order to deal with fake certificates, telecom operators have to consult local police authorities and this will make cellphone number applications more complicated.

More important, most spam messages are now sent out by mass texting software that works without the need of a SIM card, instead of cellphones. Under this circumstance, to adopt the real-name registration system will do little to curb spammers.

To some extent, spam messages are a result of loose regulation by the mobile service operators and an immature legal system. It's unwise and unfair to transfer the burden to cellphone users. Even if the real-name system is practiced, spam messages will find other ways to annoy consumers. Therefore, to deal with this problem, we need a well-developed legal system. It's unrealistic to expect the real-name system to shield cellphone users from spam messages.