Hefty fines for 'scar' producers mulled   (Xinhua)  Updated: 2006-09-24 09:56  
Companies responsible for distributing the illegal small flyers on Beijing 
streets will face fines of up to half a million yuan, if the local laws are 
revised as planned. 
 
 
 
 
   A teenage distributor slips a flyer into a 
 moving car near the Yuegezhuang Overpass on the 4th ring road in Beijing, 
 April 21, 2006. [Xinhua] |   
 The Beijing News on Saturday reported the municipal legislature is soliciting 
public comment on the revised draft of the Regulations of Beijing Municipality 
on the Administration of City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation. Lawmakers 
will deliberate the draft in October. 
 The proposed fines are part of the city's latest efforts to rid itself of the 
"psoriasis on the urban landscape": the small flyers pasted on electric poles, 
public phone booths, bus stops, pavements and even police cars. 
 
 
 
 
   A Beijing resident, right, expresses his 
 indignation at illegal ads pasted on an electric pole at a bus stop in the 
 Liuliqiao area in this undated photo. [Xinhua] |   
 The hard-to-remove bills usually advertise illegal businesses ad service, 
like fake IDs and certificates, unlicensed clinics treating venereal disease, or 
dodgy employment agencies. 
 Under the revised draft law, no-one will be allowed to post or paste 
unauthorized ads in public places. Companies caught violating the law may be 
fined between 10,000 and 100,000 yuan. Serious offenders may be fined between 
100,000 and 500,000 yuan. (1 USD=8 Yuan). 
 The draft also stipulates that the proceeds from illegal ads will be 
confiscated. Any phone numbers found on the ads will be suspended. 
 The Beijing News report says 11,926 phone numbers on illegal ads have been 
suspended by September 15 of this year. 
 
 
 
 
   Illegal ads pasted on a pedestrian overpass on 
 Beijing's 3rd ring road, April 15, 2006. 
[Xinhua] |   
 Beijing has taken a number of steps to rid itself of the annoying flyers 
since early this year. In May, the city ordered that anyone caught handing 
leaflets out on the street twice would be placed in detention or given up to two 
years of community service. But illegal ads are still a common sight at bus 
stops and on the pavement. 
 The companies distributing the ads usually hide behind the scenes, employing 
teenagers to distribute the ads. The teenagers often hop between cars to 
distribute the flyers in busy traffic, putting their own and others' lives in 
danger.   
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