Impact of China's new internet software rule remains unclear

The impact of China's new requirement that PCs sold in the country must come with internet filtering software remains unclear due to questions over how it will be carried out and enforced, analysts said yesterday.

Computer makers have been told by the government that all personal computers sold from July 1 must be shipped with anti-pornography software, a move that a US trade group called a bid by Beijing to further tighten internet controls.

But a government notice on the new rule remains contradictory, unclear and contains no information on enforcement, said analyst Liu Ming of BDA China, a Beijing internet consultancy. "My understanding is that this software may not be targeting politically sensitive websites, which the government has already had some tools in place to control," said Liu, who said he downloaded and examined the software. "It mainly targets harmful content that affects the youth."

The government notice said "Green Dam Youth Escort" software must be "pre-installed" on new computers. However, it later said the software could be included merely on a separate disc as a non-mandatory install.

Bryan Zhang, Chief Executive of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, which helped design the software, said it was his understanding it would not need to be pre-installed on the computer hard drive.

Zhang said he did not understand why providing a copy of commercially available software that anyone can download free on the internet had stirred up such controversy. "It is totally optional. If you don't want to use it you don't have to," said Zhang.

China has the world's largest online population with nearly 300 million web users, and authorities have a history of blocking websites they deem politically unacceptable or offensive, a censorship system that has been dubbed the "Great firewall of China". If made mandatory, the software rule could significantly strengthen that ability.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the new rule, quoted unnamed foreign industry officials who examined the software saying it could transmit personal information, crash computers or make them vulnerable to hacking.

But Liu said his examination turned up no signs of privacy risks.


Microsoft criticises Beijing

Microsoft said a Chinese rule that personal computers sold in the country include web filtering software raises issues of freedom of expression, privacy, and security which "need to be properly addressed".

The statement by the US software giant came after a US computer industry association denounced the Chinese move and the largest US personal computer makers said they were studying its ramifications.

The head of a software developer involved in devising the Chinese filtering program said that the move was aimed at protecting people from pornography.

Bryan Zhang, Chief Executive of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, said: "The software will be provided to consumers in new PCs and they have the option to install or not to install it."

A Microsoft spokesperson said: "Microsoft believes that the availability of appropriate parental control tools is an important societal consideration for industry and governments around the world.

"At the same time, Microsoft is committed to helping advance the free flow of information and to encouraging transparency, deliberation and restraint with respect to internet governance," the US software giant said.

"In this case, we agree with others in industry and around the world that important issues such as freedom of expression, privacy, system reliability and security need to be properly addressed," the spokesperson said.

Microsoft provides the Windows software that runs most of the world's PCs.

On Monday, Ed Black, President of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), described the Chinese move as a "very unfortunate development".

"This is clearly an escalation of attempts to limit access and the freedom of the internet," he said. "It has economic and trade as well as cultural and social ramifications."

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