As disputes regarding malicious software among several Chinese Internet companies remain unsettled, the Internet Society of China has finally determined to mediate, claiming that it will release a definitive and detailed set of rules and regulations concerning the proper classification of "malicious software".

On January 30, the "Seminar on Malicious Software Management" was held by the Internet Society of China in Beijing. Experts said that random identification of malicious software should be stopped and the detailed identification rules and regulations are expected to be launched.

Since last year, there have been continuous controversies on malicious software, specifically in regards as to what can be classified as such. Several lawsuits we levied by opposing sides to the debate and no real legal grounding has as of yet been established. Because of the lack of clear definitions of "malicious software", anti-viral manufacturers came away the losers in the legal battles. 

Zhang Yurui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that at present some manufacturers identified malicious software without any basis, which is likely to result in commercial slander. A professor of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Liu Deliang also said that anti-virus manufacturers themselves are software operators, so they cannot be the judge and the litigant at the same time. They have no right to identify malicious software.

Any random definition of malicious software easily misleads consumers and even eventually leads to unfair commercial competition. "It is necessary to examine the appropriateness of the conducts of both malicious software manufacturers and anti-virus manufacturers," said Li Decheng, a lawyer of Beijing Lawyer Association.

According to Liu Yong, a judge of the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court, identifying malicious software is a very complex task. Therefore, if a standard could be launched by authoritative institutions to identify malicious software, manufacturers will be self-disciplined in producing software and the court will be provided with adequate guidelines for judging.

The Internet Society of China is currently stepping up to formulate the detailed rules and regulations of malicious software, said Yang Junzuo, secretary-general of the Industry Self-discipline Committee of the Internet Society of China. He also emphasized that the association will consider the establishment of the Expert Group or designate the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Public Security and other departments of software evaluation to evaluate malicious software in an anonymous manner so as to eventually standardize the entire industry.