China wants more Censorship

Ah, once again China is creating a stir by trying to censor the internet even more than they already do. The previously discussed “Golden Shield” project filters out websites for the entire country, but is circumvented by a proxy. In what may be a response to that loophole, China is now requesting that all new PC’s in the country come with censorship software either pre-installed or on a CD.

“But it’s a good thing!” – they claim

The stated intention of the software is to protect children from pornography, and avoid the so called poisoning of minds. Even though the software now only blocks pornography, it could easily be expanded to block other sites, via a database that is updated over the internet.

Not so great after all

Luckily the software can be uninstalled or disabled by parents wanting their internet free from censorship. Unfortunately, the software can also allegedly make computers more vulnerable to attack. What’s more, the software may transmit personal data and then the user may not even know what is being blocked. Some claim that incompatibilities can lead to crashes and such, while China claims that testing has proved otherwise.

The Companies weigh in

This arrangement leaves the computer companies in a tricky spot – with a choice between helping make censorship possible or disregarding a government order and facing the loss of a large market. It is, however, unclear how the rule will be enforced. Industry officials have stated that the “incredible scope of the requirement that is not matched anywhere around the world” and the lack of time to test the software makes the rule challenging.

Source: PC firms face China decree