China Not Relenting On Internet Filter Mandate

Late Monday the China Daily newspaper, in a story on its Website, quoted an unnamed source in China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) saying that the government "will not back away" from its demand that all PCs sold within the country be equipped with the Green Dam Youth Escort software.

Since news about the requirement leaked out several weeks ago, the Internet filtering software plan has been ensnared in controversy. Critics both inside and outside of the country have said the software, which is supposed to limit access to violent and pornographic Web sites, also could be used to censor politically sensitive Web sites such as those dealing with Tibet or the banned Falun Gong group.

There is a move underway among critics of the plan in China to boycott the Internet on July 1 to protest the use of the Web filtering software.

U.S. PC manufacturers, particularly Dell and Hewlett-Packard, which have significant sales in China, have raised objections to the plan. In addition to the potential political implications of the software requirement, critics have said the software leaves PCs vulnerable to attack by hackers.

Representatives from the U.S. embassy met with representatives of MIIT and China's Ministry of Commerce on Friday to discuss the Green Dam issue, according to several published reports, but details about the results of that meeting have not been disclosed.