From scratch, take a look at China's ICP filing system

For developers living in China's Internet environment, ICP filing (hereinafter referred to as "filing") is a difficult topic to circumvent. Whenever you need to build a website seriously, filing is a must. Otherwise, various strange problems may occur. But, have you thought about why we need to record? Have you ever understood the deep meaning behind the word record?

Why do we need filing?

The requirements and history of filing can be traced back to a management method passed by the 31st executive meeting of the State Council on September 20, 2000 - "Internet Information Service Management Measures" (hereinafter referred to as the Information Management Measures), which was established by then-premier Zhu Rongji. Signed by Mr. All the follow-up filing work that we carry out is actually an extension of this information management method.

In the "Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services", Article 2 explains the circumstances under which the filing is required: engages in Internet information service activities within the territory of China.

Article 2 Those engaging in Internet information service activities within the territory of the People's Republic of China must abide by these Measures.

Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services , September 20, 2000

The also explains why Facebook, Google and other websites can operate normally, because they are not strictly speaking engaged in related information service activities in China (but there is no guarantee that you will be able to access them). Similarly, if your own website is hosted on an overseas server, you do not need to record it (but it is also not guaranteed that you will be able to access it. After all, you do not provide services in China, and it is normal for the network to fluctuate).

After delineating the scope, Article 3 stipulates the types of different Internet information services, and conducts qualitative operations.

Article 3 Internet information services are divided into two categories: commercial and non-commercial. Commercial Internet information services refer to the provision of paid information to Internet users or the creation of web pages through the Internet. Non-commercial Internet information services refer to service activities that provide open and shared information to Internet users free of charge through the Internet.

Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services , September 20, 2000

After completing the qualitative operation, the fourth article states the strategies that should be implemented for different types of services: the licensing system is adopted for business operations, and the filing system is adopted for non-business operations.

Article 4 The state implements a licensing system for commercial Internet information services; and a filing system for non-commercial Internet information services.

Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services , September 20, 2000

So far, the familiar ICP filing has come to the fore. The details of various specific filings we have learned now are an extension of the content of the management measures. If you are interested in these contents, you can read this information management method in detail.

On January 28, 2005, the subdivision management measures above the "Internet Information Management Measures", "Non-commercial Internet Information Service Filing Management Measures" (hereinafter referred to as non-commercial management measures) were also promulgated accordingly. Business Internet information services have been more clearly arranged and explained. The descriptions that we are familiar with, such as the filing registration form, the provincial traffic management bureau, and the filing number publicized at the bottom of the website have also appeared in the non-operational management measures, and the filing matters of the website have also been officially implemented.

What is the record filing?

For many people, the most troublesome thing is not knowing how to file, but how to deal with the relationship between domain names, websites, servers, and individuals. And all these relationships can actually be described in one word - " double binding system ".

The current website filing system is actually a "double binding system", which binds the website to the owner on the one hand, and binds the website to its access provider on the other hand. Once there is a problem with a website, you need to be able to find the owner and access provider of the website as soon as possible.

Ruan Yifeng, " About Website Filing, ", September 9, 2009

Filing is not a blocking measure, but a regulatory measure (compared to the licensing system for commercial Internet information services). found the access provider to unplug the network cable as soon as possible to narrow the scope of influence; find everyone to impose corresponding penalties.

Five key roles in the filing process

After we have figured out the core concept and purpose of the filing, let's go back and look at the five key roles in the filing: Filing subject , Provincial Communications Administration , Access Service Provider , Registrar and Domain Name Authority .

When we actually start filing, we are faced with three elements: domain name, server, owner . These five key roles are related to the three elements in turn.

Domain Authority and Domain Names

When we start thinking about building a website, it will inevitably involve the issue of domain names. In fact, since the official implementation of the "Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Regulating the Use of Domain Names for Internet Information Services" promulgated on November 30, 2017, not every domain name can be filed. In this notice, Internet domain name registrars are required to register and approve in China in to allow the corresponding suffixes to enter the filing process. If the corresponding domain name registrar is not registered in China, the corresponding domain name cannot be registered in China.

As a result, there are some issues that we need to consider when buying domain names many times now - can the domain name complete the recordation?

At present, all the approvals of the corresponding registration agencies can be found on the domain name industry management information publicity website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology . If you need to buy a domain name and plan to file in China, you must remember to confirm whether the domain name you purchased can complete the process of filing in China.

In addition, if you are interested, you can also find some suffixes you may have never heard of or seen here, such as .baidu .

For the domain name registrars that have already carried out, because the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has corresponding communication methods, they can issue an official letter after a problem occurs, requesting the corresponding service agency to assist in the investigation and cooperation. For unregistered management agencies, the corresponding cooperation cannot be completed, and the suffix filing is simply not allowed.

This also explains why the .io domain name you purchased cannot be filed, because the corresponding registry is not registered in China and does not meet the filing requirements. As for the .io domain names with the record number you see, the record was completed before the corresponding notice was issued, so it can be used normally.

Domain registrars and domains

After you have selected a domain name suffix (such as .com) that can be registered, you can register the domain name. The registration of the domain name needs to be completed with the corresponding domain name registrar. At this time, it will also involve different domain name registrars that may affect your filing process.

According to the new management method, your domain name needs to complete the real-name authentication when purchasing. Therefore, if you want to record your domain name, you must require your domain name registrar to support real-name authentication.

For example, at present, you can purchase domain names from domain name registration service providers such as Alibaba Cloud (Wanwang), Tencent Cloud (Xinwang), and Western Digital, and perform real-name verification. After the real-name verification is completed, you can perform subsequent domain name filing operations.

Correspondingly, domain name registrars also adopt restrictions on approval and registration. Different service providers can support different domain name real-name authentication. Enterprises need to submit according to " Internet Domain Name Registrars Approval " and wait. After the approval, the corresponding domain name registration and real-name authentication services can be provided.

The currently approved domain name registrars can also be found on the domain name industry management information announcement website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at .

This also explains why your domain names registered with domain name registrars such as Godaddy, Namesilo, Namecheap cannot be filed in China, because they have not been registered in China and have access to the corresponding real-name authentication process, naturally they cannot provide you with follow-up. filing service.

Domain and owner

When you have selected the domain name suffix and domain name registrar, and entered the detailed domain name registration process, the real-name authentication of the domain name will be involved.

At this time, you need to pay attention to the fact that the registration requires the real-name authentication of the domain name and the subject of the registration to be consistent. Therefore, if you plan to use which subject (individual or enterprise) for the record, you must select the corresponding real-name authentication here. information for real-name authentication.

After you submit the information, the domain name registrar (domain name registrar) will submit your domain name and corresponding real-name information to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Generally, after 1 to 2 working days, your information can be checked in the internal system of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and then the next step of filing can be carried out.

Access service provider and domain name

After the domain name is purchased, the next step is to choose an access service provider. Since filing is actually a "two-way binding" between individuals and websites, and websites and access service providers, the service providers that can provide filing services are those that have been registered with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. business license).

When filing, you will be required to complete the real-name authentication of your domain name, and then submit the information for the corresponding filing. Here, the real-name authentication of the domain name and the real-name authentication information of the access service provider will be required to be consistent for review.

This also explains why the DigitalOcean server you purchased cannot be filed, because DigitalOcean does not hold an Internet data center business license. Of course, DigitalOcean's servers do not need to be filed.

Owners and Communications Authority

When you file for the record, you will be asked to choose a location for the record. The location of the record determines which province's Communications Administration is to manage your website.

Generally speaking, everyone will choose the location of the ID card. Of course, if you follow the instructions in the customary method, you can actually choose your current location (because the Authority cares about whether you can be contacted). After selecting the corresponding province, you need to submit the corresponding information (need to be accurate to the house number), and file based on the corresponding information. However, it should be noted that different regions may be different. For example, the filing based on the current location may require you to provide a residence permit for filing.

In theory, you can have multiple different filing numbers, one filing number for the location of your ID card, and for multiple residences.

Access Service Providers and Communications Authority

When you have prepared all the information, and the access service provider has done a basic review for you, your information will be submitted to the corresponding bureau of communications you have filed. The ICP filing itself is a filing system. Therefore, the approval can actually be passed in most cases, but it takes a little time. The time required for the approval of the varies in different provinces. According to the requirements of the “Administrative Measures for Information Service Filing” , the review will be completed within 20 working days. However, some specific provinces are relatively fast (such as Shanghai and Zhejiang, it is said that the approval can be completed in 1 working day).

When you complete the approval, you will get a record number, put the corresponding record number at the bottom of your website, and add a link to the bureau.

Precautions after getting the record number

Add a filing website

After you have completed the filing and construction of the first website, you may need to proceed with the filing and construction of the second website. At this time, you need to pay attention to:

1. The purpose of your first website should conform to the category declared at the time of filing (otherwise the second round may not be possible)
2. You should put the record number and other information in accordance with the regulations.
3. Your first website should be open for the second round of filing. Each subsequent new website will require that your previous website can be opened normally.

This requires you to shut down a domain name as soon as possible if it is no longer in use, and cancel the domain name and the corresponding filing.

Record number, domain name and access service provider

After you get the domain name registration number, you can start the construction and development of the website at the access service provider you applied for. But it should be noted that you can only use the services of the current access service provider. If you want to use the services of other companies, you need to apply for access again and add a new access to use the products of the corresponding service provider. . After all, the core appeal of filing is "two-way binding", binding users and websites, websites and access providers. Although you have completed the record and solved the binding between the user and the website, if you do not complete the binding between the website and the access provider (do the access record), the access provider will also refuse to provide you with services.

In addition, it should be noted that there should always be at least one website under your name. For people who do not have one website (for example, you have logged out all websites), they are called "empty shell entities" in the filing system, and they are usually The Bureau will regularly clean up the empty shell body, so in order to keep your body and record number, try to ensure that you have a website under your name. If the service provider needs to be migrated, the access of the previous service provider is cancelled after the new service provider access is completed.

Unique CDN

In the filing system, there is a very unique product - CDN. Unlike cloud hosts, cloud hosts require access before they can be used, while CDNs do not have corresponding requirements. As long as you complete the filing, you can use CDNs without further access.

As a distributed product, CDN cannot be accessed uniformly, so it only restricts the recordation, and no longer requires that your domain name must be accessed at the corresponding service provider.

What might happen if there is a problem with the site?

In fact, so much has been said before, all of which are intellectual content. Next, let's face a real-world problem - If there is a problem with a certain website. What might happen to ?

As mentioned earlier, filing is essentially to be able to find you quickly after a problem occurs and solve the problem in the website. But what are the possible operations when it is actually executed?

1. If there is a record, directly contact the contact number provided during the record (this is why there will be a contact number and a backup contact number when you file), and after getting in touch, the person in charge of the website will rectify.
2. If the record call cannot be reached, you can contact the service access provider and use the access provider to suspend the access service of the website, so that the website cannot be accessed.
3. If the service provider can still access after the access is suspended (that is, although you have filed the record, your website is actually on another server), then notify your DNS resolution service provider to stop the resolution.
4. If your DNS is also resolved by yourself, you can contact your domain name registration service provider to stop the service status of the domain name directly.
5. If you or even the domain name registrar is doing it yourself, you can contact the domain name management agency to stop the use of your domain name.
6. When all of the above methods fail to solve the problem, we will directly blacklist you and become what we used to call a "walled" website.

postscript

After writing this article, I feel relieved. I started building a personal website in 2012, and started filing the first domain name in 2013 and 2014. Later, in 2016, when I was an intern at NetEase, I looked at the filing from the perspective of an access service provider, and then online, the filing policy kept changing. , I myself have also experienced a period of record filing from loose to strict in a sense (although it has not gone through the most loose period).

From the perspective of many practitioners, the filing mechanism seems to be red tape, but from another perspective, it also provides a certain basic guarantee system for our Internet. The information on the Internet is mixed. Although the filing system cannot guarantee that the information we see is "absolutely clean" by the mechanism of blacklisting, it also gives some suggestions in the form of whitelisting.

However, this article also has regrets. Due to space limitations, I cannot introduce the information related to the public security filing. This part will be reserved as a follow-up article to introduce it independently.