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China news tagged with: Green Dam (38)

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China’s Web Crackdown Continues
In the Wall Street Journal, Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal, writes:
China is doing its best to remind us that technology can also be a tool of suppression, with Beijing recommitting to censoring its large corner of the Internet. Last summer, the authorities required computer makers to install “Green Dam” software on every PC sold in China, which would block troubling political and religious sites. The regulation was put on hold. But last week a Santa Barbara-based company called Cybersitter sued China and several computer makers for $2.2 billion for allegedly stealing code from its parental-control software aimed at blocking pornography.
The lawsuit—which faces an uphill climb because of difficulties in fighting global copyright violations—says makers of the Green Dam software lifted 3,000 lines of code from Cybersitter (even including some of its customer updates) and incorporated them into the Chinese software. Violations of rights to software in China are usually on display as close as the nearest side street, but it’s telling that the government would go to such lengths.
Cybersitter alleges there were several thousand attempts from China to hack into its servers, some with thousands of attempts at access per session, including one traced back to a government ministry. Spoofed emails originating in China purported to come from Cybersitter staff and attempted to install Trojan code to lift information from the company’s servers.
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- January 10, 2010 10:28 PM
China Faces U.S. Piracy Lawsuit for Internet-Filtering Software
From Bloomberg:
China was accused of piracy in a lawsuit filed by a California software maker, which said the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering program installed on personal computers in the country infringes its copyright.
Cybersitter LLC, a closely held company, seeks $2.2 billion in damages in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles. The company accuses China and computer makers, including Lenovo Group Ltd. and Acer Inc. whose products include the Green Dam program, of stealing its trade secrets, unfair competition, copyright infringement and civil conspiracy.
“This lawsuit aims to strike a blow against the all-too- common practices of foreign software manufacturers and distributors who believe that they can violate the intellectual property rights of small American companies with impunity without being brought to justice in U.S. courts,” Greg Fayer, a lawyer representing Cybersitter, said in a statement.
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- January 6, 2010 12:03 AM
Evan Osnos: Top Ten China Myths of 2009
On his New Yorker blog, Evan Osnos parses out ten myths about China that were in circulation this year, including:
Chinese Web users have no impact on the government. Fact: In June, China unveiled plans to require all new personal computers to come with filtering software “Green Dam Youth Escort,” but an outcry from Chinese Web users and foreign technology companies forced the government to rethink. It would have been too embarrassing to abandon it completely, but the government postponed indefinitely the mandatory pre-installation of the software on new computers. Some Asian brands, including Acer and Lenovo, agreed to put it in package anyway. Eventually the government announced that schools, Internet cafés and other public-use computers would still be required to run the software.
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- December 9, 2009 2:55 PM
CBS Interactive Sued For Distributing China’s Green Dam Filter
From InformationWeek:
Solid Oak Software, the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based maker of Internet filter CYBERsitter, on Monday filed a $1.2 million copyright infringement lawsuit against CBS Interactive.
The lawsuit alleges that CBS Interactive’s ZDNet China made the controversial Green Dam filtering software available for download on its Web site and that Green Dam included code copied from Solid Oak’s CYBERsitter program.
The Chinese government earlier this year said that all PCs sold in China would have to come with Green Dam installed by July 1.
The government claimed that the software was necessary to protect young people from unhealthy Internet content — mainly pornographic and violent material — but human rights groups reported that the software blocked political and religious content too.
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- October 6, 2009 8:18 PM
Han Han: Finding Happiness by Being Different
It is interesting that the official agency Xinhua runs a story on Han Han (in English only), who has openly criticized the censorship system, Green Dam and “Dofu-built schools.”
When racing driver Han Han flipped the bird at judges after receiving a penalty during the China Touring Car Championship in June, many asked if he had taken his tendency for controversy a step too far.
But he followed up on his blog, lambasting the Federation of Automobile Sports as “unprofessional” in enforcing rules and criticizing it for failing to impose penalties for prohibited pre-rally road surveys.
Asked whether he considered the influence of his obscene gesture on society, Han responded with typical sarcasm: “The only group that might be affected is the children, but I believe that with the protection of ‘Green Dam’ (filtering software designed to block violence and pornographic content on the Internet), they won’t be hurt.”
It was the sort of hard-hitting criticism that has made the 27-year-old the most popular blogger in China — and seen him hailed as the voice of his generation.
More stories about Han Han on CDT. [CDT just noted that the Xinhua article above is the same article that ran in China Daily in August.]
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- September 23, 2009 1:31 AM
Washington Post: China’s Great Firewall
The Washington Post published an editorial Monday about the demise of Green Dam:
LAST THURSDAY, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced its withdrawal of requirements that Green Dam Internet censorship software come pre-installed on all computers. This victory is not unblemished. China is continuing to install the software in computers at Internet cafes and universities. And some manufacturers continue to include it with computers shipped to the country. But the outcome — although not perfect — is a success for the Chinese people and the cause of Internet freedom.
The prevailing argument from Western companies that have been dealing with China has often been that of inevitability — if we don’t accept Chinese demands, someone else will. But the successful pushback against Green Dam by computer manufacturers and the State Department suggests another possibility: If everyone remains firm, we can achieve results.
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- August 16, 2009 9:19 PM
Alice Xin Liu: Green Dam About-face Inspires Hope
Danwei’s Alice Xin Liu opines in the Guardian about the government backing down over the Green Dam filtering software and what it means for Internet activism in China:
The decision is momentous and the government’s claim it was all a big misunderstanding is a step towards admitting that actually it just didn’t make Chinese citizens very happy. Li Yizhong, the minister for industry and information technology, made the concession. According to the Guardian report, “the notion that the Green Dam programme would be required on every new computer was ‘a misunderstanding’ spawned by poorly written regulation”. At least he recognises that sometimes the government is inconsiderate, especially when disseminating (and implementing) its guidelines. In the case of the Green Dam Youth Escort, the original regulations were certainly uncompromising.
The episode provides a minor victory for Chinese netizens, a guarantee that the government won’t lash out with forced implementation. It enables Chinese computer users to breathe a sigh of relief, and comes at a time when respite is most needed.
Unfortunately there have recently been many cases of netizen abuse but hopes have been raised because in several of these cases – like Green Dam – the government appears to have relented in the face of public opinion.
For its part, the China Daily issued their own op-ed about Green Dam, called, “Gift of Hindsight”:
Something meant to protect our young citizens from harmful information is worthy of applause. Yet the “Green Dam” was stonewalled because of the fear that it would compromise people’s privacy and right to know.
Now, Mr Li clarifies that we have all been mistaken about what was on their mind – they had no intention to monitor our online activities, nor did they want to impose the filtering device on all personal computers. Which is different from what we heard two months back. At the June 30 press conference we heard the ministry, for some reason, was only postponing forced installation of the software. And, sources in the ministry disclosed then that compulsory installation was only “a matter of time.”
And, now, Mr Li assures us that the so-called forced installation was the result of a misleading impression, which itself was the outcome of awkward representation.
It is a pity that a well-thought-out public interest initiative turned into a public relations disaster for the ministry. And it is all about misrepresentation. Never again should something like this be repeated.
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- August 15, 2009 9:35 PM
Tweets of the Week: Tan Zuoren, Xu Zhiyong, Twitter and Green Dam (Updated)
Despite the blocking of Twitter, Chinese politically-active tweeters are still tweeting away. Some hot keywords from the last week?
Tan Zuoren, Xu Zhiyong, Twitter and Green Dam.
Here are selected tweets on these topics, translated by CDT:
1. 我們都知道今天真正被審判的是誰。
We all know today who is really being tried. (Referring to Tan Zuoren’s case)
2. 阿甘说，生活就像明信片，你永远不知道下一张寄给谁。
Forest Gump once said: Life is like postcards. You never know who you’re going to send one to next. (Referring to the Twitterers’ campaign to send postcards to prisoners of conscience.)
3. 除了中國，有那些國家會在數年間有數十次的意圖推翻政府？為甚麼在共產黨宣稱的百年難見的盛世中，會有這許多人想赤手空拳地推翻一個政府？共產黨的確欠我們一個解釋。
Other than China, which other country has had several dozen attempts to overthrow the government within just few years? Why do so many people want to overthrow the government with their empty hands during a period that the Communist Party claims is the best in a hundred years? The Communist Party owes us an explanation.
4. 上联：必须有证件下联：不许有政见横批：和谐社会
[Written in the style of a Chinese couplet poem]
Gotta have identification
Gotta have no [political] opinion
Harmonious Society
5. “wezhiyong.org” 变成关键词，新IP地址更换12小时后再次被封
“wezhiyong.org” (a blog site set up by netizens to advocate Xu Zhiyong’s release.) became a filtered keyword. It’s new IP address was blocked again twelve hours after it had changed.
6. 他们打算怎样？用坦克来碾压推特的服务器么？//解放军报雄文：网络颠覆，不容小觑的安全威胁。http://bit.ly/aDGIy
What are the PLA really planning to do? Roll tanks over Twitter’s servers? (Referring to this article on PLA Daily: Internet Subversion: A Security Threat which must not be underestimated.)
7. Twitter封得住，母猪会上树
If Twitter can be blocked, then pigs can climb trees.
8. 我已翻墙，感觉良好，请祖国和人民放心！
I am over the Great Firewall now. I feel fine. Motherland and people, please don’t worry!
(Chinese astronaut Qu Zhigang 翟志刚 said during a spacewalk: “I am out of the spaceship now. I feel fine. Motherland and people, please don’t worry! “)
9. 差点以为天安门被绿坝了
I almost thought that Tiananmen was “Green Dammed.” (Referring to this news: On August 14, a green fence was set up around Tiananmen Square in Beijing for renovations to greet the 60th anniversary of the PRC’s founding.)
10. 谭作人在狱中写给妻女的信中说：“你们，是我的眼泪”。
“You are my tears.” – from a letter prisoner of conscience Tan Zuoren wrote to his wife and two daughters.
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- August 14, 2009 5:16 PM
China Warms to New Credo: Business First
From the New York Times:
Beijing has a global footprint now, a consequence of its booming domestic growth and breakneck international expansion. And decisions that once were made on purely parochial grounds — like censoring Web sites, protecting the interests of its state-owned companies and restricting the flow of foreign news and entertainment into China — now have international ramifications.
“This is a country in the middle of a big transition in its global role,” said Kenneth Lieberthal, a veteran China analyst now at the Brookings Institution. “They’ve always looked in the past to what’s good for China, and they still do. But for the first time, added to that is the consideration that they’re in the position of being rule-makers, not just rule-takers.”
China’s leaders, he said, “are just beginning to learn how to handle that.”
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- August 14, 2009 9:29 AM
Minister: China Won’t Force Internet Filter
From Wall Street Journal:
China’s industry minister Li Yizhong said Thursday that China won’t force the mass installation of the Green Dam Internet filtering software on personal computers and other consumer products.
China will continue to install the software, called Green Dam-Youth Escort, on computers at schools, in Internet cafes, and other public places, Mr. Li added.
Mr. Li’s comments are China’s most clear climb-down to date on the issue, after its plan to require the software to be shipped with all computers sold in China were delayed indefinitely in June.
Mr. Li said the software was always intended to be optional and not a mandatory installation, and said the regulations were unclear when first released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in May.
See also “China Scales Back Software Filter Plan” from the New York Times and “Installation of Internet filtering software not compulsory: minister” from Xinhua, which ends its report by saying:
Installation of the software was postponed on June 30. Li said the ministry was still gauging public opinion before installation and would adjust its plans accordingly.
Work on upgrading the Green Dam software is also in progress.
The market would still be open to similar software programs, Li said.
See also “Green Dam: Class Background Matters” from justrecently.
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- August 13, 2009 2:28 AM
Li Datong: China’s Civil Society: Breaching the Green Dam
Journalist Li Datong writes for China Dialogue about the emerging online civil society movement that scored an important victory with its opposition to the Green Dam filtering software:
Opposition took a range of forms. Some well-known intellectuals called for the details of the policy-making process to be made public so its legality could be checked. Some called for an “internet boycott” on 1 July. Most notable was the “2009 declaration of the anonymous netizens”: this started with greetings to the internet censors and went on to describe the internet as an unstoppable force of history that charted human society’s future direction. There was too an element of direct challenge: “for the freedom of the internet, for the advancement of internetisation, and for our rights, we are going to acquaint your censorship machine withd systematic sabotage and show you just how weak the claws of your censorship really are.”
The MIIT, faced with opposition both at home and overseas, announced on 30 June 2009 that it was postponing its plans. But it is clear that in effect the decision has been to abandon them altogether. In breaching the Green Dam, China’s internet users have scored their greatest victory yet.
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- July 22, 2009 6:20 PM
The Net Revolution: Chinese Netizens vs. Green Dam
Written by Willy Lam, Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, from China Brief:
Celebrations that Beijing has bowed to global pressure and scrapped an order to use filtering software in all personal computers have turned out to be premature. On July 1, a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) spokesman said that while Beijing had, on June 30, postponed the installation of the China-made Net-screening device, “the government will definitely carry on the directive on Green Dam.” While Green Dam allegedly targets only pornography, foreign and Chinese experts alike think its real purpose is to censor “subversive” material and to prevent the country’s 300 million Netizens from fomenting dissent on China’s growing information superhighways (CNN.com, June 30; InformationWeek.com, July 2). Also indicative of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) determination to combat Net-based anti-government activities are plans to convict leading dissident Liu Xiaobo on charges of “inciting subversion to the state and the socialist system.” Dr. Liu is an internationally known writer who was a key organizer of the Net-empowered Charter 08 Movement, which the CCP deems one of the most potent challenges to its authority since the mid-2000s. Beijing leaders also appear to have been taken aback by the so-called “Twitter Revolution” in Iran, where liberal activists have used the Internet and allied vehicles to broadcast their opposition to the controversial presidential polls held last month.
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- July 10, 2009 12:03 AM
Phelim Kine: Leaning on the Dragon
Written by Phelim Kine, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, from New York Times:
Who says the Chinese government isn’t susceptible to pressure? Its last-minute suspension of an order requiring the pre-installation of Internet filtering software called into question the popular notion that China is chronically impervious to pressure.
The “Green Dam Youth Escort” software attracted ire inside and outside China due to assessments by both independent analysts and computer industry representatives that the program, pitched as a tool to block pornographic content from personal computers, represented a much more sinister threat to privacy, choice and security.
After weeks of scathing criticism from some of China’s nearly 300 million netizens, unprecedented opposition by foreign computer manufacturers and international business associations, and a threat from both the United States trade representative and U.S. secretary of commerce that Green Dam might prompt a World Trade Organization challenge, Beijing blinked.
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- July 6, 2009 9:26 PM
PC Makers Offer China Internet Filter
From AFP:
Several PC makers said Friday they were voluntarily including China’s controversial Internet filter software in new shipments despite Beijing’s decision to postpone making it mandatory.
The government had been set to introduce the Chinese-made “Green Dam Youth Escort” programme but announced the delay hours before its implementation on July 1.
Customer service staff at PC makers including Taiwan’s Acer Inc and China’s Haier Group said they were nevertheless installing or packaging the software with all new PCs — but added it was easy to uninstall.
“You will find it with our PCs, as the state has requested. But … you can easily find a patch on the Internet to uninstall it,” one of Acer’s service staff told AFP on the phone, asking not to be named.
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- July 3, 2009 7:50 PM
Chinese Netizens Celebrate Green Dam Delay
From the Chosun Ilbo:
Many Internet users in China are celebrating after Beijing delayed implementing its order that Internet-blocking software be installed in all new computers.
News of the delay turned a scheduled Internet boycott into an all-day celebration on Wednesday. Hundreds of opponents of the plan flowed in and out of a tucked-away restaurant in Beijing’s Caochangdi art district.
The well-known artist and activist Ai Weiwei organized the event. Dressed in neon pink, he walks around posing for photographs and signing T-shirts with slogans protesting the plan. Ai had proposed a 24-hour Internet boycott for Wednesday, the day the plan was to go into effect, and used online tools such as Twitter to invite people to gather at the restaurant near his home. “It’s just to let people know what our attitude is towards this kind of censorship,” Ai said.
By lunchtime the party already had over 200 guests enjoying free food and alcohol. Ai says he expects over 1,000 people from all over China to join the party before the day is over. “They traveled to Beijing many of them,” Ai said. “The guy on the phone there is from Hangzhou, some people are from the northeast, some are from different provinces. I was so surprised. Some are fans of mine, some are Internet activists, [and] some are human rights activists.”
Also from the Reuters:
Chinese web users flooded to a trendy art zone cafe on Wednesday to celebrate a last-minute halt to a rollout of government-sponsored filtering software, and make a stand for freedom of expression in the Communist-run state.
Dressed in t-shirts mocking the Green Dam program, about 200 Beijing residents had arrived by mid-morning to eat a traditional Chinese breakfast, denounce censorship and prepare for a day-long party.
Originally conceived as part of an Internet boycott to mark the July 1 launch of the filter — and to give a web-addicted generation something to do during the 24 hours of offline — the atmosphere was festive as guests celebrated what many said was an unexpected victory against state censorship.
“This is a very rare example for the government to suddenly push back an important decision the night before it is due to be rolled out,” said outspoken artist Ai Weiwei, who organised the boycott and the party.
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- July 2, 2009 9:28 AM