By Yao Lan

　　THERE is ongoing warfare in the city today with poles and walls as positions and fliers and knives as weapons.

　　But now, a modern telephone warning system has been thrown into the battle against illegal advertisements by the Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau and it is thought this has given the authorities an advantage in the next round of fighting.

　　The telephone system is nicknamed, "hu si ni" (meaning "call you to death") and works by pestering those pasting illegal advertisements with endless continuous calls to compel them to stop their random pasting of posters in public areas.

　　The system was first highlighted by the media when it was adopted last February in a district in Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province.

　　As reported, the system in the district worked around-the-clock to dial the numbers printed on each advertisement, and eight such mobile phone users surrendered to the government on the first day.

　　Soon, the system was used throughout Hangzhou and many other cities adopted is as an effective way to combat the organizers of the fliers.

　　However, among the applause and praise, legal experts pointed out that such a "rude" way of dealing with the problem was not based in law and the system infringed upon a citizen's freedom of communication. Some even went so far as to say it was an abuse of power.

　　Legal puzzle

　　Shanghai did not launch phone blitz campaign until this month, mainly due to concern about its lawfulness.

　　According to Liu Weiguang, a publicity official from the bureau, the plan has been under discussion for a long time.

　　"Sophisticated investigation and confirmation work is a must before we dial the telephone number," he said. "It is a strict procedure."

　　He explained that pictures of the illegal fliers on poles and walls are required.

　　"Two workers must team up when taking pictures, and usually there must be more than one picture," he said. "One picture should be the panorama of the location of a flier. Then a close-up of the flier is needed, and the content of the flier should be clear in the picture."

　　Also, workers should record the location and the time when taking the pictures. Furthermore, witnesses and their testimony are also necessary.

　　On December 15, the first day the system put into operation, a total of 40 telephone numbers found on the fliers were called. So