Report: China to require censorship software

China's government plans to require all PCs sold in that country as of July 1 to be shipped with software that blocks certain Web sites, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The move, which is expected to give government censors heightened control over how China's citizens use the Internet, is intended to protect young people from "harmful" content such as pornography, according to the software's main developer.

The software, called "Green Dam-Youth Escort," would block access to banned Web sites by connecting to a regularly updated database of banned sites and block access to those addresses, according to the report. The requirement is aimed at "constructing a green, healthy, and harmonious Internet environment, and preventing harmful information on the Internet from influencing and poisoning young people," according to a May 19 Chinese government notice the newspaper cited.

The Chinese government has a reputation for restricting its citizens' access to the Internet.

Last week, on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, China reportedly blocked access to Web sites like Twitter, Yahoo's Flickr, YouTube, Microsoft Hotmail, Live.com, Wordpress, Blogger, and many other social-networking sites.

Internet censorship in China took center stage last year during the Beijing Olympic Games when it was revealed that the International Olympic Committee had cut a deal to let the Chinese government block international journalist' access to sensitive Web sites, despite promises of unrestricted access.

[damesJ]

makes u appreciate the good ol US...

[Seaspray0]

I'd love to have a copy of that. Maybe we can use it here to block all those china and russia spam sites.

[magvine]

Is it just me, but isn't having the software located right on a user's hard drive going to make it a lot easier to hack?

I don't know why they bother, their populace has a couple thousand years of obidence to authority beaten into them that I don't think the internet can fix. Look at Russia (not the same society, but similar mentalities for a strong government), free internet and support for the Kremlin and it's corrupt reigme is stronger than ever.

[breakaoss]

I would expect it to be hackable with it being on their hard drive. My question is what about those that building their own computers? I'm sure they must have other ways of censorship.

[sharmajunior]

"They hate us for our Freedom!".....LOL.....

Anyways, can't a person just refomat their hard drive and get the software off??? or do they have to go back to authorities and request them to load the software back....better yet....if they see your computer being offline and then using internet without their software....they'll kill you....."This is a good day to die"......I can't mention how happy I am for the Chinese.They don't have the guts to stand up to their government.

[initialxy]

"They don't have the guts to stand up to their government."
There's something called Tiananmen Squre incident. Perhaps you should look that one up on Wikipedia.

[sharmajunior]

You don't have to tell me what the Tiananman Square incident was about, I am fully aware of what happened. What I am referring to is, what happened after that, absolutely nothing. If they wanted democracy or whatever alternate system they chose, they would have stood up (and gotten killed) until they achieved their goal.

But now everyone is a coward, hiding away from their government. Read about what the Chinese government did to the people whose names were released by Google and Yahoo. The next big thing to happen in Asia is China and it's regime expansion. It's already started to get ugly.

and besides i don't trust Wikipedia, I get my sources from more legit places where the content is not editable.

[sharmajunior]

also forgot to add

don't forget that it was the Chinese who were selling rigged routers to the DoD here so that they could spy easily on all of the data being passed around.

[globalist_agenda]

Reagan won the cold war and defeated Communism right? Well, he did if you don't count China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, etc., etc.

[flickrz]

Yeah, Regan won the cold war. He defeated mighty afghan govt backed by communists using mighty islamists. Now, mighty US army is fighting mighty Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The only difference; it is not so cold anymore. It is a 'hot' war.

[Renegade Knight]

The Cold War ended with the fall of the Post WWII Soviet Block. The end of the cold war didn't end conflict, it just brought to light a lot of conflicts that had been overlooked while the cold war raged. However now we have a chance to tackle the problems (and screw them up or solve them depending) that had been hidden.

[AirJordans]

'China reportedly blocked access to Web sites like Twitter, Yahoo's Flickr, YouTube, Microsoft Hotmail, Live.com, Wordpress, Blogger, and many other social-networking sites. ' - I don't think so, I can use almost any social-networking sites though sometimes low-speed or via proxy! :)

[benjaminqiu]

Lucky you. I can use Facebook here in Shanghai (though it's slow) but there is ZERO access to YouTube, Twitter, Blogspot, etc.

[assman]

This is a nation of pirates.. I'm sure methods of hacking the censor will proliferate within days of its release.

Also, **** China. <-- that probably got censored. Anyway, just glad I don't live there.

[paulej]

There are many who copy products, but it is a part of the culture that has been that way for generations. It does not equate to being evil, just because most in the US have a different notion of intellectual property.

Keep in mind that Americans are far from perfect. In America, if you lose your job, have no money, perhaps are paralyzed from the neck down, and no way to pay your property taxes, the government will take your property away and throw you into the street.

[ikramerica--2008]

Whatever you say. Because I'm constantly stepping over quadriplegics in the street.

[paulej]

The fact you do not see quadriplegics in the street does not negate the fact that homes are taken away from folks and sold. Many people who are down on their luck or who are elderly have been affected. I know, because I know people who buy up those houses for pennies on the dollar. It's sad, really.

[Police_States_of_America]

i wonder if they'll block the linux sites

[flickrz]

Huh....so they need a computer that only connects LAN i.e. Local-chinese Area Network. Or how abt shipping software that doesn't connect to the internet at all.

[a100024]

This (censorship) is nothing new. AOL ran the business as walled garden with full control of everything (most) of US web users saw only few years ago. Google is providing as default you with "Google's SafeSearch" functionality with moderate filter on in order to "block web pages containing explicit sexual content from appearing in search results" etc. Wait and see few more years and then "due to national security" or similar blocking will expand.

It seems that when site blocking is done by free market forces (most likely being afraid of sanctions from government/legal system) it is ok, when it is done by directly by government it is not.

[Xenite227]

I bet this article just got CNet blocked lol.... but really what a hole of a country. No civil rights, no freedoms hmmm kinda like America if Pat Robertson was in charge *cringe*

[benjaminqiu]

Glad to report from Shanghai that CNet is not (yet) on the wrong side of the Great Firewall.

[k1m0d0]

There is a Chinese journalist serving a ten year prison term because he dared blog about Tiananmen Square. There has been speculation that Chinese government censors got an assist in locating him from Yahoo and Cisco. Their denials are couched in tortured legalese. Expect the Chinese authorities to get all the filtering help they require.

[luke_marsh]

The good side of this, The more better China become in this activity the more they can home in on the areas they wish to censor and hence the less cumbersome the model allowing for your average Chinese citizen to make the most of the internet. This is important when you consider learned Chinese people have a lot of pursuits that are of no concern to censorship issues and such a more effective Censorship model can make sure it doesn't infringe on good workmanship areas of Chinese interest. Also another area is how by censoring more politically highly disruptive areas Chinese can readjust itself to better serve very valid personal issues. Both of these areas during better progress the Chinese Security groups have show the ability to make good strides towards. Also becoming experts in this area allows China to help other concerned National to adopt more efficient models for those countries that doesn't upset more locally/nationally legitimate pursuits.
There is and always will be however some people who do feel their valid issues are not being addressed which is an Earth wide issue not just something specific to China. The grass is not greener on the other side I refute that claim that many over this side imply.

[SniffTheDuck]

You wouldn't happen to have written this software by any chance?

[aethelworth]

Ironically, this kind of propoganda which has been obviously posted by someone on the dole from the Chinese government would be censored in China if it had a pro-American slant.

You aren't fooling anyone but yourself, luke_marsh.

[krollins83]

HAHA.... do you really think you're fooling anyone? Let me help you out... in order for posts like this to be effective and gain traction in the wider community the idea must have merit, and the person posting it needs to have a genuine belief in the idea. It's EXCEEDINGLY UNLIKELY that a pro-censorship idea will ever gain traction on the internet - in regards to China, or anywhere for that matter.

[mmntech]

Only illegitimate governments censor their citizens.

[paulej]

what about those that spy on its citizens?

[Seaspray0]

governemts that censor their citizens also tend to spy on their citizens

[Dustymack]

I bet it will get hacked with in 48 hours. Once wireless becomes popular enough nobody will be able to censor anything. I hope the Chinese people revolt on this one. That's some b.s

[abcd9009]

not much of a techie but please correct me if I am wrong here. What if I just format my computer...Wouldn't that get rid of the censorship software, along with everything else from the computer?

I can then re-install only Windows and Office or any other software that I need. Why would you even need to hack when formatting can just wipe it off completely from your system.

Or is it not that simple to get rid of a software? Am I missing something?

[ZetaZeta_]

You got it.
In fact, considering the high piracy rates in Asia, how many computers will even get this software? Definitely all publicly accessible computer, for sure.

[pugster]

If they bundle free Antivirus/Antimalware software, maybe I'll use it.

[ikramerica--2008]

If only the world had the guts to withdraw the Olympics from China after it was clear that they would not comply with their promises to reform. But without any guts, what hope is there for freedom?

[sythara]

As long as we keep dealing business with them and let them make money off us, they are free to do whatever they want. Think about that next time you buy cheap plastic crap from China, you're helping a nation of tyrants tighten their grip on the people.

[lazycat202]

nothing new in China and it's the way of Communists: do it or go to jail!! I'm feeling sorry for Chinese citizens

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