China's Web filtering move slammed
China's requirement that Internet filtering software be included with personal computers sold in the country came under fire from a US industry association on Monday while the largest US PC makers said they were studying the Chinese move.
"It's a very unfortunate development," said Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association.
"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 US 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 US PC manufacturers, the Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard and the Round Rock, Texas-based 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.
"We are aware of the policy," Dell said in a statement. "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."
Microsoft, which provides the Windows software that runs most of the world's PCs, said it planned to issue a statement later in the day.
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 websites.
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.
The head of a software developer involved in devising the program confirmed the report to AFP, saying it was aimed at protecting people from pornography.
"The software will be provided to consumers in new PCs and they have the option to install or not to install it," said Bryan Zhang, chief executive of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co.
China has the world's largest online population at nearly 300 million Web users, and the Chinese authorities have a history of blocking websites they deem politically unacceptable or offensive, a censorship system that has been dubbed the "Great Firewall of China".
Source: AFP
