China Scales Back Plans for Software Filter

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

BEIJING — Chinese officials retreated on Thursday from a plan to install so-called anti-pornography software on every computer sold here, saying instead that Internet cafes, schools and other public places must use the program, but that individual consumers will be spared.

The industry and information technology minister, Li Yizhong, said the notion that the program, called Green Dam/Youth Escort, would be required on every new computer was “a misunderstanding” spawned by poorly written regulations.

The ministry order, first issued last May 19, had stirred an outcry from Chinese Internet users and foreign computer manufacturers alike, arguing that the software ran counter to China’s proclaimed goal of creating an information-based society.

The United States warned China that the installation requirement could be seen as a violation of world trade regulations.

Although the government insists that the program is meant to shield children from online pornography, its filter — automatically updated by the government — targeted many topics with political overtones. Free-speech advocates said that the program was a government attempt to extend its control of political opinions into people’s living rooms.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/world/asia/14censor.html

[Coventina]

1. Chinese parents "shed tears," begged for Web curbs

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE57C14Q20090813

Reuters:

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese parents "shed tears" as they begged the government to protect their children from obscenity on the Internet, a government minister said on Thursday, justifying curbs on access to the Web in China.

The Chinese government has closed hundreds of websites in an ongoing crackdown on online porn and "vulgar content" that in some cases has netted dissident sites, prompting criticism Beijing is coming down hard on freedom of speech.

The campaign is part of a broader tightening of media controls ahead of October's 60th anniversary of the founding of Communist China.

But Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, slammed as unwarranted any concerns about China's Internet controls.