By Vladislav Savov on August 14, 2009
China’s efforts to preload the Green Dam censorware on all PCs in the country have been going pretty poorly so far, with accusations of software piracy and manufacturer displeasure causing delays. Now the government is backing down from that stance, stating that the original regulation wasn’t “expressed clearly, and gave everyone the impression that [Green Dam] was mandatory.” For home computers, that means the internet filtering software will likely continue to be bundled as an optional (and inactive) extra — something Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Sony have been doing since early July — but if you’re at school, an internet cafe or some other public access point, expect to see Green Dam running, alive and well. Censorship is dead, long live censorship.
[Via CNET]
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
China backtracks, makes Green Dam ‘optional’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted in Latest Gadgets | Tagged censor, censorship, censorware, china, Chinese government, ChineseGovernment, content filter, content filtering, ContentFilter, ContentFiltering, filter, filtering, freedom, gadgets, green dam, Green Dam Youth Escort, GreenDam, GreenDamYouthEscort, Internet, Latest Gadgets, parental control, parental controls, ParentalControl, ParentalControls, software |
By Donald Melanson on June 29, 2009
Well, there was some evidence
earlier this month that some piracy issues in China’s mandated “Green Dam” content-filtering software could cause PC exports to the country to be stalled, but it looks like Sony has now gone ahead and included the software on its PCs regardless, albeit with a few major caveats. According to the document above (included with a VAIO PC sold in the country, and translated by
RConversation’s Rebecca MacKinnon), Sony says that it is including the software “in accordance with government requirements,” but that it “cannot guarantee the authenticity, legality, or compatibility of the software’s content, function, service or any other feature.” It’s also apparently only including the program on the hard drive and providing installation instructions, rather than providing it completely pre-installed itself. Still no word from any of the other major PC manufacturers, it seems, but you can be sure this won’t be the last word on the matter.
[Via TG Daily]
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Sony now including “Green Dam” filtering software on PCs sold in China originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted in Latest Gadgets | Tagged censor, censorship, censorware, china, content filter, content filtering, ContentFilter, ContentFiltering, filter, filtering, gadgets, green dam, GreenDam, Latest Gadgets, sony, vaio |
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