The PC industry cautiously welcomes China’s filtering software

June 16th, 2009 BEIJING - Customers purchasing computers in China will have the option of buying or not buying government-sponsored porn-filtering software, an official has said. The China Daily quoted the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)official as saying: "PC makers are only required to save the setup files of the program in the hard drives of the computers, or provide CD-ROMs containing the program with their PC packages." The users have the final say on the installation of the Green Dam-Youth Escort, so it is misleading to say the government compels PC users to use the software, the official clarified.

June 11th, 2009 LONDON - China's plans to censor the Internet by forcing all new computers to be sold with filtering software may put every computer in the country at increased hacking risk, experts have warned. According to Isaac Mao, blogger, social entrepreneur and research fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the compulsory government software appeared to be plagued with flaws.

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.

September 21st, 2009 EU cites emails to support Intel anti-trust caseBRUSSELS — The European Union is publishing computer makers' e-mail excerpts to support a ruling that Intel Corp. pressured companies into choosing their chips over rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

July 31st, 2009 Anti-theft software could create security holeLAS VEGAS — A piece of anti-theft software built into many laptops at the factory opens a serious security hole, according to research presented Thursday. The "Computrace" software, made by Vancouver-based Absolute Software Corp., is part of a subscription service that's used to find lost or stolen computers.

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.

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.

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.

March 17th, 2009 BANGALORE - The State Bank of India (SBI) group deployed 3i Infotech software to prevent money laundering in compliance with the central bank's regulatory order, the bank said Tuesday. 'We have contracted with IT software product firm 3i Infotech to deploy its anti-money laundering solution across our group comprising SBI and six associate banks to monitor any suspicious transfer of money, including terror financing,' SBI chief general manager B.S.

June 30th, 2009 Company threatens legal action on China Web filterBEIJING — A California company that says its software was illegally used in Beijing's new Internet filter threatened unspecified legal action as PC makers faced a Wednesday deadline to supply the system with computers. Solid Oak Software Inc.

June 27th, 2009 Companies appeal to China to drop Web filter planBEIJING — Global business groups have made an unusual direct appeal to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to scrap an order for PC makers to supply controversial Internet filtering software, citing security and privacy concerns. Just days before the deadline to comply with China's order, the letter from 22 chambers of commerce and trade groups representing the world's major technology suppliers adds to pressure on Beijing to halt the plan following an official protest by Washington.

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.

June 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - While most business sectors were affected by the slowdown last year, the anti-virus and computer security industry grew 18.6 percent totalling $13.5 billion in revenues, IT market researcher and consultancy Gartner said Monday. According to a report by Gartner, there is an increasing demand for appliance-based products, particularly within certain segments such as e-mail security and secure web gateway markets.

June 8th, 2009 BANGALORE/ BUDAPEST - Cranes Software Subsidiary Proland Software, an IT security company that owns the Protector Plus range of Anti-virus software products, has entered into a strategic partnership with VirusBuster, a Hungary-based security solutions provider. The partnership is an important step for VirusBuster to further strengthen its position in international markets, and will increase Proland's existing product portfolio.

January 13th, 2009 BEIJING - China Wednesday shut down 84 additional websites for containing 'pornographic and lewd content' in its month-long campaign against online porn, bringing the number of blocked sites to 175. The Special Operation Office said in a statement that government departments would step up efforts to continue to close illegal websites and 'severe penalties' would be meted out to violators of law.