Chinese Govt. delays orders on software designed to block pornography

June 13th, 2009 Company alleges Chinese software has stolen code SAN FRANCISCO — A California company claims that the Internet-filtering software China has mandated for all new personal computers sold there contains stolen programming code. Solid Oak Software of Santa Barbara said Friday that parts of its filtering software, which is designed for parents, are being used in the "Green Dam-Youth Escort" filtering software that must be packaged with all computers sold in China from July 1.

June 9th, 2009 China defends Web-filtering software requirementBEIJING — China on Tuesday defended a new requirement that personal computers sold in the country carry a software that filters online content, saying the program is targeted at preventing the spread of pornography and other "unhealthy" content. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology posted on its Web site Tuesday a notice to all PC makers that they will be required to pre-load the "Green Dam-Youth Escort" filtering software on units to be sold in China as of July 1, including imported PCs.

July 2nd, 2009 SHANGHAI - Under the controversial Green Dam computer program, China has already installed censorship software in over half-a-million computers. According to a report in The Telegraph, the Green Dam program has been downloaded three million times since the end of March and has been installed on 518,000 computers.

June 25th, 2009 China accuses Google of spreading pornographyBEIJING — China accused Google Inc. on Thursday of spreading pornography after Chinese users were unable to connect to the search giant's Web site, while Washington called on Beijing to scrap its order for personal computers to be equipped with Internet-filtering software.

June 11th, 2009 China defends net filtering software amid outcry BEIJING — Chinese state media on Thursday issued an unprecedented defense of newly required Internet filtering software that must be packaged with every computer sold in China starting next month, after a public outcry at home and abroad. Although the government says the software is aimed at blocking violence and pornography, users who have tried it say it prevents access to a wide range of topics, from discussions of homosexuality to images of comic book characters such as Garfield the cat.

August 13th, 2009 BEIJING - China's Industry and Information Technology Minister Li Yizhong has said that the "Green Dam Youth Escort" software would now be "voluntary", providing users an opportunity to decide if they want to install it or not. "When users buy computers, they will be provided the software disk.

June 19th, 2009 Google to step up anti-porn efforts in ChinaBEIJING — Google Inc. said Friday that it was working to block pornography reaching users of its Chinese service after a mainland watchdog found the search engine turned up large numbers of links to obscene and vulgar sites.

April 7th, 2009 On what is to be called an aggressive technical decision, The Australian Govt. has announced that they don't want to completely redesign the internet service of the whole country.

June 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US trade officials sent a letter to their Chinese counterparts Wednesday urging them to revoke an order that requires a controversial internet filtering software to be installed on computers. The Green Dam software, which China will require on all new computers from July 1, could be used to restrict free speech and raises questions about free trade, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a letter to the Chinese government.

June 8th, 2009 China requires PCs to come with anti-porn softwareBEIJING — China is requiring personal computers sold in the country to carry software that blocks online pornography and other Web sites, potentially giving one of the world's most sophisticated censorship regimes even more control over the Internet. The software's developer said Monday the tool would give parents more oversight by preventing computers from accessing sites with pornographic pictures or language.

January 10th, 2009 BEIJING - China has shut down another 50 websites for containing pornography and lewd content, bringing the total number of blocked sites to 91 since last Thursday. Authorities have vowed to beef up crackdown efforts in the following days and urged law-breakers to voluntarily turn themselves in to local public security departments.

July 22nd, 2009 US wins trade dispute with China over CDs, DVDsGENEVA — Officials say the U.S. has largely prevailed in a trade dispute with China over restrictions on the sale of American CDs, DVDs, books and computer software.

March 27th, 2009 A teenager from New Jersey has been arrested after she uploaded 30 nude photos of herself to her MySpace page, and is now facing child pornography charges. The 14-year-old girl had posted the pictures to a social networking site "because she wanted her boyfriend to see them," a police spokesman revealed.

August 14th, 2009 BEIJING - A senior Chinese government official has said that the implementation of the "Green Dam Youth Escort" software, which filters online pornographic, was "not thoughtful enough". The government had demanded in May, through a directive issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), that all personal computer manufacturers should ensure that the filtering software was included with all computers sold in China by July 1.

July 2nd, 2009 PC makers voluntarily supply Web filter in ChinaBEIJING — Several PC makers were including controversial Internet-filtering software with computers shipped in China on Thursday despite a government decision to postpone its plan to make such a step mandatory. Beijing's decision this week to delay the requirement that the filtering software — known as Green Dam — be pre-installed or supplied on disk with all computers sold in China averted a possible trade clash with the United States and Europe.