PC makers cautiously welcome China's anti-porn filter software

[china]

[SIZE=+1]PC makers cautiously welcome China's anti-porn filter software[/SIZE]

China National News
Thursday 11th June, 2009
(ANI)

Beijing, June 11 : The Chinese Government's decision to provide computers with software packages for filtering online pornographic contents has received cautious welcome from PC makers, yet many Internet users are sceptical of the software's capacity.

Chinese authorities had earlier rejected media reports that claim that the government is installing spy ware on all computers in the guise of porn filters.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Tuesday announced that all computers produced or sold in China after July 1 would be installed with the software package combining Green Dam and Minor Escort programs.

Sources with the ministry revealed on Wednesday that all the computers to be on sale in China's rural areas at an average of 13 percent discount from the government's subsidies have been preloaded the software packages making the total number of preloaded computers exceed 50 million, Xinhua reported.

So far 20,967 primary and secondary schools had installed the software in some 2,618,000 computers and more than 6,957 websites have installed the software in their computers.

The ministry on Wednesday insisted that its notice to the PC makers and sellers does not mean the software's installation to user's operating system is mandatory, instead, the software package should be installed on either the hard drives or a compact disc with the computers.

"We only provide an option for the computer users, especially the parents of minors," said Zhang Chenmin, General Manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co Ltd, developer of the Green Dam.

"The only thing that PC makers should do is to preload the package into their computer's hard drives, which will not activate the software programs," he said.

The users could choose whether installing or not, Zhang said, promising that the software will not be a tool spying into the user's personal information.

China's PC giant Lenovo Wednesday continued to refuse giving an official comment on the ministry's policy. But a senior sale's manager said preloading the software package would not bring decline for their PCs.

Your point of view ,please .

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[brewmaster]

Not too intrusive, but a waste of money

It doesn't appear to be too intrusive, especially if companies distribute the software on a CD, which people can promptly thrown in the trash and be done with.

There's nothing wrong with having a porn filter at the disposal of users, but I'm not sure why the Chinese government wants to force companies to do it. Why not just make the software free to download on the internet so that parents, librarians, etc. can get it and install it if they really need a filter. It's a big waste of money to distribute the software to everyone when most people probably don't want it.

 

[DurkaDurka]

China already has the "great firewall" which filters all sorts of material the government considers to be offensive. Forcing PC manufactures to install software that the end user can uninstall is pointless, unless the software servers other purposes to the government.

Then there is also the problem of liability for the PC manufacturers, if this software ends up causing the PC to crash or the OS to croak, who is going to pay for the support costs etc?

 

[Sublime]

They only block it because Western Civilization and Europe make the BEST PORN, not China.

It's kinda how the U.S. blocks drugs...because other country's have the best drugs.

Trust me..I know....I'm single.....I know porn.....what i am trying to say is that I jerk alot.....:lol:

 

[GreenFish66]

Always using porn as reason to take freedoms away ...A lot of B.S.. of course Child porn is wrong ..Horrible .Everyone would agree.but exploiting a small problem ..to regulate and pass laws on Good citizens.Is Just another way of controling information..Lord forbid you do something not acceptable by the Gov....Let the users censor and regulate..We will herd and catch the bad guys....Oh well It's to be expected from China..

 

[#juan]

China already has the "great firewall" which filters all sorts of material the government considers to be offensive. Forcing PC manufactures to install software that the end user can uninstall is pointless, unless the software servers other purposes to the government.

Then there is also the problem of liability for the PC manufacturers, if this software ends up causing the PC to crash or the OS to croak, who is going to pay for the support costs etc?

I consider porn to be a waste of time. Worrying about porn is an even bigger waste of time. I for one will not buy a computer with any kind of anti-porn software built in. I think it is up to me to decide what I'm gonna watch or not watch.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I consider porn to be a waste of time. Worrying about porn is an even bigger waste of time. I for one will not buy a computer with any kind of anti-porn software built in. I think it is up to me to decide what I'm gonna watch or not watch.

I hear you, you would think the Chinese government would have bigger fish to fry...

 

[brewmaster]

It's not that bad

Am I the only one who read this paragraph?

The ministry on Wednesday insisted that its notice to the PC makers and sellers does not mean the software's installation to user's operating system is mandatory, instead, the software package should be installed on either the hard drives or a compact disc with the computers.

The software is not installed. You do not buy a computer with a porn filter "built in". You have a choice: install it or not. There is no freedom being taken away from citizens (well, maybe from computer manafacturers).

I guess this is a case of China having such a bad human rights / freedom of speech record that the West always thinks the worst when stories like this come up.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Am I the only one who read this paragraph?



The software is not installed. You do not buy a computer with a porn filter "built in". You have a choice: install it or not. There is no freedom being taken away from citizens (well, maybe from computer manafacturers).

I guess this is a case of China having such a bad human rights / freedom of speech record that the West always thinks the worst when stories like this come up.

Anti-porn filter software stirs up disputes in China_English_Xinhua

"The only thing that PC makers should do is to preload the package into their computer's hard drives, which will not activate the software programs," he said. "

The fact is, the Chinese government is till forcing manufactures to include this software with PC's, regardless if it is activated or not. There is no freedom of choice.