Alarm about privacy has been triggered with the phone numbers
and addresses of nearly 400 Chinese mainland celebrities being
disclosed on the Internet in October.
Many stars have been bombarded with calls from strangers. Some
are fans while others are pranksters, the Beijing Times
newspaper reported Wednesday.
"I've received a few calls asking to me to solve personal
problems," said actor Zhang Tielin, who has played a Chinese
emperor in a popular TV series. "It seems to me some of them have
mental problems and confuse my real identity with the roles I've
played in movies."
He complained that his mobile phone was sometimes drained of
power in half-a-day with the number of incoming calls.
Pop star Zang Tianshuo said he received two text messages early
this week. One was from a fan and the other from an organization
that claimed to be collecting money for charity.
Pop idol and expectant mother Sun Yue said she was happy to
receive the occasional call from a fan but emphasized "please don't
call after midnight."
Ye Lin, law professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China,
said stars should be more careful with their phone numbers. "Tell
them only to your family, good friends and agents," he said. “Tell
other people only the number of your agent."
He also suggested the stars engage lawyers to protect their
rights. "It's not easy to find the source of a leak in a short time
but at least they can demand websites stop carrying such
information," said Ye.
News stories about the information leak abound on the Internet
but websites carrying phone numbers of the 400 showbiz stars were
no longer seen on search results of major search engines by noon
Wednesday.
In June last year the private numbers of nearly 600 celebrities
were revealed on the Internet. Zhang Guoli, a film director who was
one of them, made a movie The 601st Call based on the
incident.
Analysts say such practices are aimed at raising website
profiles. Yang Lixin, a Beijing lawyer, said they violated privacy
and the law.
However, there've been no reports of lawsuits against
perpetrators. Analysts suggest the stars fear if the cases go to
court the verdicts will be published on the websites and more
personal information will be disclosed.
The Chinese Performing Artists Association is considering
setting up a system by the end of this year to safeguard the rights
and interests of its members.
(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2006)