China Will Cut Back Demands For Mandatory Filtering Software
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Computer users in china will have the final decision as to whether or not they install the controversial Green Dam-Youth Escort software on their PCs, but the filtering program will be installed on every PC in a public area.
The software was expected to be rolled out this spring, but was delayed for the first time on June 30. Despite concerns of censorship, the Chinese government stated the program is designed to protect children from online pornography and other content — attacks on the program have been unfair and unjust.
Specifically, the Chinese government will enforce Green Dam’s installation at public schools and Internet cafes.
“Installation is intended to block violent and pornographic content on the Internet to protect children,” said Li Yizhong, Chinese minister of Industry and Information Technology told Xinhua. “Any move to politicize the issue or to attack China’s Internet management system is irresponsible and not in line with reality.”
The public announcement of Green Dam filtering was met with high levels of criticism from both Chinese Internet users and foreign media, who said the Chinese government was going too far. After the Green Dam launch was delayed on June 30, parties were thrown across the country to celebrate the historic event.
The overall legality of the program was questioned immediately after the Chinese government announced the use of the software, which is one of the reasons it is now offering the option of installing the software for home PC users.
Along with individuals who were against the software, many PC makers were not pleased with the censorship software, though most manufacturers reluctantly agreed to use it. Sony became the first manufacturer to pre-install the software, with Acer, Hewlett-Packard and Dell also expected to follow suit — now it’s likely they’ll all stop launching the software, allowing users to decide whether or not they’ll use it.
admin @ August 16, 2009