China- PCs with anti-porn software .

china

Time Out
Jul 30, 2006
5,247
37
48
72
Ottawa ,Canada
Tuesday June 09, 2009


Bruneitimes.com.bn




China wants PCs with anti-porn software

BEIJING


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

CHINA wants all personal computers sold domestically to come with software that blocks access to online pornography, one of the software's developers said yesterday.

The software, called "Green Dam-Youth Escort," targets online porn by preventing computers from accessing sites with pornographic pictures or language, Zhang Chenmin, general manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, said.

Jinhui, based in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan in central China, was compiling a database of the blocked sites.

"According to our surveys, many teenage students have become familiar with Internet pornography and they commonly share the addresses of pornographic Web sites with one another," Zhang said.

The software could also be used to block other kinds of Web sites, depending on keywords, Zhang said. The Chinese government routinely blocks political sites, especially ones it considers socially destabilising such as sites that challenge the ruling Communist Party, promote democratic reform or advocate independence for Tibet.

According to the Wall Street Journal yesterday, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on May 19 to personal computer-makers that PCs to be sold in China as of July 1 must be preloaded with the software.

The program would either be installed on the hard drive or enclosed on a compact disc, the paper reported, adding that PC makers would be required to tell authorities how many PCs they have shipped with the software.

The ministry did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press by phone or fax. A separate notice on its Web site said all primary and secondary schools were required to install the Green Dam software on every school computer by the end of last month.

Parents can develop their own lists of sites to be added to the database of blacklisted sites, Zhang said.

"If a father doesn't want his son to be exposed to content related to basketball or drugs, he can block all Web sites related to those things," Zhang said, adding that conversely, users also could unblock Web sites that appear in the database.

Zhang said his company signed a 21 million yuan ($4.4 million) contract with the Chinese government last May to develop the software and distribute it to personal computer-makers free of charge within one year, to be included with units meant for domestic sale. AP

_____________________________________________________________

Right or wrong ?
 

Scott Free

House Member
May 9, 2007
3,893
46
48
BC
So China is about to learn net nanny's don't work.

What a waste of time but I suppose they have to spend their money on something.
 

china

Time Out
Jul 30, 2006
5,247
37
48
72
Ottawa ,Canada
Microsoft Reacts To Chinese Web Filtering Move6-9-09 1:48 AM EDT | E-mail Article | Print ArticleWASHINGTON (AFP)--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) late Monday said a Chinese rule that personal computers sold in the country include Web filtering software raises issues of freedom of expression, privacy, and security that "need to be properly addressed."

The statement by the U.S. software giant came after a U.S. computer industry association denounced the Chinese move and the largest U.S. personal computer makers said they were studying its ramifications. The head of a software developer involved in devising the Chinese filtering program said in Beijing that the move was aimed at protecting people from pornography.
Bryan Zhang, chief executive of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co., said " the software will be provided to consumers in new PCs and they have the option to install or not to install it."
In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson said "Microsoft believes that the availability of appropriate parental control tools is an important societal consideration for industry and governments around the world.
"At the same time, Microsoft is committed to helping advance the free flow of information and to encouraging transparency, deliberation and restraint with respect to Internet governance," the U.S. software giant said.
"In this case, we agree with others in industry and around the world that important issues such as freedom of expression, privacy, system reliability and security need to be properly addressed," the spokesperson said.
Microsoft provides the Windows software that runs most of the world's PCs.
Earlier Monday, Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, or CCIA, described the Chinese move as a "very unfortunate development."
"This is clearly an escalation of attempts to limit access and the freedom of the Internet," he said. "It has economic and trade as well as cultural and social ramifications."
Black said the Chinese move smacked of an attempt to "not only control their own citizens access to the Internet but to force everybody into being complicit and participate in a level of censorship."
"I hope the U.S. Trade Representative, the State Department and other agencies of government will try to step up and reverse the decision," he said.
Two of the biggest U.S. PC manufacturers, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett- Packard Co. (HPQ) and Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc. (DELL) said they were seeking more information about the Chinese move.
"HP is working closely with trade industry associations and ITI (Information Technology Industrial Council) to seek additional information, clarify open questions and monitor developments on this matter," a spokeswoman said.
Dell said it was aware of the policy.
"Along with the rest of the industry, and relevant trade associations, we are reviewing it and will work with government officials and others to understand its application," Dell said in a statement.
According to The Wall Street Journal, China has told global PC makers that all personal computers sold in the country as of July 1 must be shipped with the software that blocks access to certain Web sites.
It said the software, called "Green Dam-Youth Escort," would link PCs with a regularly updated database of banned sites and block access to those addresses.
The Journal said China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on May 19 requiring that PCs to be sold in China as of July 1 have Green Dam software "preloaded" - pre-installed or enclosed on a CD.
China has the world's largest online population at nearly 300 million Web users, and the Chinese authorities have a history of blocking Web sites they deem politically unacceptable or offensive, a censorship system that has been dubbed the "Great Firewall of China."