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China Delays Mandatory Security Software Initiative

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 June 2009, 10:20 CDT

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday announced that it would back away from previous plans to force computer makers to bundle filtering software with all computers.

The announcement came less than one day before the ministry was expected to launch the new initiative that would mandate the installation of the Green Dam Youth Escort software on all computers.

China intended to impose the new mandate in order to protect its citizens from offensive material, including pornography and violence. Critics claim the software also filters out dissenting political opinions on the Web.

The mandate has been received with controversy from citizens, industry groups and officials in Washington, who said the initiative represented a possible trade barrier.

"The pre-installation was delayed as some computer producers said such a massive installation demanded extra time," official news agency Xinhua quoted a ministry spokesman.

Human rights advocates said the software overstepped its boundaries in that it represented a form of censorship and prohibited free speech.

Earlier this month, experts claimed the software contained a set of serious security flaws.

"We found a series of software flaws," Isaac Mao, a blogger and social entrepreneur in China, as well as a research fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, told BBC News.

Mao said tests on the communications between the software and the servers at the company that developed the program were unencrypted, which could allow hackers to "steal people's private information" or "place malicious script" on computer networks.

"Once you've got government-mandated software installed on each machine, the software has the keys to the kingdom - anything can be logged or affected," said Professor Jonathan Zittrain, also of Harvard's Berkman Center.

According to AFP, computer makers including Toshiba Corp and Taiwan’s Acer Inc were prepared for the mandate, but giant firms Hewlett-Packard Inc and Dell Inc “had avoided making public commitments, possibly waiting for a diplomatic settlement.”

But despite the criticism from various groups, Susan Shirk, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of California, San Diego, told Reuters that the move to postpone the mandate was impacted largely by public opinion on the Web, saying that China’s Communist leaders “watch public opinion very carefully.”

"There's a very dynamic interaction between the Party authorities and the Internet public."

The ministry said it would continue to make the software available as a free download for schools and public Internet access sites.

"The ministry would also keep on soliciting opinions to perfect the pre-installation plan," Xinhua said, quoting a ministry spokesman.

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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