China retreats on Green Dam censorware
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- China’ s Communist rulers believed they could get away with shipping every PC with built-in Green Dam Youth Escort censoring technology.
They used the hoary old pornography ploy, much favoured by Hollywood’s MPAA and the Big 4 music labels’ RIAA, as their excuse.
But instead of compliance, they met with a massive deluge of criticism and complaint, most of it from online communities.
Now, significantly, the government has finally backed down.
“A senior government official admitted yesterday that the implementation of Green Dam online pornographic filter was ‘not thoughtful enough’,” says Cui Jia (China Daily).
The Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, main developer of the censorware, works with China`s security ministry and military, said p2pnet shortly after it was first introduced, going on:
“The word ‘green’ in Chinese is used to describe Web-surfing free from pornography and other illicit content. Green Dam would link PCs with a regularly updated database of banned sites and block access to those addresses … ”
However, the capitulation isn’t total.
“China will not force the mass installation of the software on PCs, but the software will be installed on computers in schools, Internet cafes and in other public places,” says Cui Jia.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Cui Jia – Green Dam launch ‘not handled well’, August 14, 2009
p2pnet – Green Dam of China censor software, June 8, 2009
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August 15th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Why communism fails: Pornography!