CHINESE Internet authorities have formalized rules regulating the country’s fast-growing live-streaming video industry, in a move that may strip out smaller competitors and places hard-line surveillance measures on leading firms.

    In an announcement posted on their website Friday, the Cyberspace Administration of China grouped a handful of earlier restrictions under a final 24-point regulation that will come into effect Dec. 1.

    The rules require streaming services to log user data and content for 60 days, and work with regulators to provide information on users who stream content that the government deems threatening to national security or social order. Both users and providers are punishable under the regulations.

    The law also codifies rules that ban online news broadcasting services from original reporting, requiring them to identify sources and non-selectively reproduce State-sanctioned information.

    China’s live video streaming industry has experienced booming growth in the past two years as dozens of video and social media sites scrambled to add the updated capabilities to their existing services.

    Credit Suisse Group analysts estimate the industry could top US$5 billion by the end of 2017, driven by cheap bandwidth and a growing population of young mobile users.(SD-Agencies)