Skip to main content

Home/ Geopolitics Weekly/ Group items tagged Great Firewall

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Pedro Gonçalves

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China defends screening software - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8091044.stm

China Censorship Internet Great Firewall Green Dam Youth Escort

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 09 Jun 09 - Cached
  • China has defended the use of new screening software that has to be installed on all computers.Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the software would filter out pornographic or violent material.
  • All computers sold in China - even those that are imported - will have to be pre-installed with the "Green Dam Youth Escort" software.
  • The directive says the newest version of the software has to be pre-installed on Chinese-made computers before they leave the factory. Imported computers must contain the software before they are sold.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • "The Chinese government pushes forward the healthy development of the internet. But it lawfully manages the internet," he added.
  • Critics fear this new software could be used by the government to enhance its internet censorship system, known as the Great Firewall of China.
Pedro Gonçalves

China orders PC makers to install blocking software | World news | The Guardian - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...web-blocking-software-china

China Great Firewall Green Dam Youth Escort Censorship

shared by Pedro Gonçalves on 09 Jun 09 - Cached
  • Computer makers in China have been instructed to pre-install blocking software on every PC hard drive from next month, under a government push to control access to the internet.The new software, which has been developed by companies working with the Chinese military, is specifically aimed at restricting online pornography, but it could also be used to strengthen barriers to politically sensitive websites.
  • China's authorities currently block overseas-based sites they disapprove of, such as those relating to Tibetan independence, or the Falun Gong spiritual movement, with a mesh of filters and keyword restrictions, widely known as the Great Firewall.
  • The new software – called Green Dam Youth Escort – potentially adds a powerful new tool at the level of the individual computer. It updates a list of forbidden sites from an online database, much as network security programs automatically download the latest defences against new worms, trojans and viruses.The software, designed to work with the Microsoft Windows operating system, also collects private user data.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • A separate instruction on the ministry's website obliged schools to install Green Dam on every computer in their institutions by the end of last month.
  • Optional programs that allow parents to restrict internet access by their children have existed for some time, but this is the first time the government has instructed that every computer be installed with a single centralised system.
  • China's ministry of industry and information technology issued a notice to personal computer-makers on 19 May that every machine sold from 1 July must be preloaded with the software. Last year 40m PCs were sold in China, the world's second biggest market after the US.
  • The software was developed by Jinhui Computer System Engineering in Henan under a 21m yuan (£2.2m) deal with the government.
  • Bryan Zhang, the founder of Jinhui, told reporters his company was compiling a database of forbidden sites, all related to pornography. He claimed users would have the option of uninstalling the software, or choosing to unblock sites, though they will not be permitted to see the list.
  • China periodically launches campaigns against online porn. In the latest drive more than 1,900 websites have been shut down and search engines, such as Google and Baidu, have been castigated for failing to self-regulate. Rights groups say the same techniques, along with cruder methods, are used to stifle websites that embarrass, irritate or threaten the government.Last week the authorities blocked Twitter and Hotmail in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
1 - 2 of 2
Showing 20▼ items per page