Software
“Green Dam-Youth Escort” restricts access to Web sites about the 1989 Tiananmen Square military crackdown and the banned spiritual movement known as Falun Gong, said Issac Mao, a fellow at Harvard Universitys Berkman Center for Internet & Society. The software also shuts down word-processing applications and Internet-chat services when some keywords are entered, said Mao, who says hes tested the program.
Bryan Chang, chief executive officer of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Corp., which co-developed the software, said in a June 11 interview the program only blocks pornography. Wang Lijian, a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, declined to comment today.
The unadvertised features of “Green Dam” indicate Chinas stepping up its censorship efforts as the government grapples with surging online use, according to Hong Kong Polytechnic University Associate Professor Korris Chung. China bans online pornography, gambling and politically critical content by requiring all domestic Web sites to be registered and by blocking access to foreign sites such as Google Inc.s YouTube.
Screening Software
“Having screening software installed on individual computers will really reinforce” attempts to control Internet use in China, said Chung. “China already bans certain Internet sites via network gateways, but there are ways for users to get round them.”
China will require all PCs sold in the nation to include the “Green Dam” software starting July 1 to block Internet pornography and other “unhealthy” online content, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on its Web site this week. The move is part of an effort to “strengthen earlier achievements in cracking down on vulgar Internet content,” according to the statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Chinese government-required Internet filtering software contains political keywords and Web addresses.
The Chinese software filters out pornography by recognizing images deemed to be showing excessive skin, as well as through a list of banned Web sites thats updated by Jinhui Computer, Chief Executive Chang said.
“We can 100-percent say the software doesnt spy on users,” Chang said. “It doesnt have the capability.”
Falun Gong
Typing “F-a-l-u-n D-a-f-a,” an alternate name for the Falun Gong, on Microsoft Corp.s Word will result in an automatic termination of the word-processing program, according to Berkman Centers Mao. Similar shutdowns occurred with Microsofts Internet Explorer, Notepad, Wordpad and the MSN instant- messaging service, he said.
Also, installing the “Green Dam” software will automatically load its files inside the main Windows directory of a computer, hindering a users ability to distinguish which files are from Microsofts operating-system program and which are from “Green Dam,” Mao said.
Image Recognition
Hewlett-Packard Co., the worlds largest PC maker, is working closely with the Information Technology Industry Council to seek additional information, clarify open questions and monitor developments on the matter, the Palo Alto, California- based company said in an e-mail.
Dell Inc. is reviewing the China policy about the software with the rest of the industry, relevant trade associations and government officials to understand its application, said Jess Blackburn, a spokesman for the Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker. Apple Inc. spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment.
“In this case, we agree with others in the industry and around the world that important issues such as freedom of expression, privacy, system reliability and security need to be properly addressed,” said Kevin Kutz, Microsofts director of public affairs.
Twitter Inc.s social-networking service and Microsofts Bing.com were inaccessible in China in the week preceding June 4, the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro- democracy demonstrators. China ranks first worldwide in online censorship, according to Herdict.org, a project of the Berkman Center at Harvard, which compiles reports of Web outages.