Filtering move raises issues: Microsoft
The statement by the US software giant came after a US computer industry association denounced the Chinese move and the largest US 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.”
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 US 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 (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 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, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard and 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.
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 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.
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”.
Web filtering software – give your views
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