{"id":43560,"date":"2009-08-13T02:28:50","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T09:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=43560"},"modified":"2009-08-14T11:11:13","modified_gmt":"2009-08-14T18:11:13","slug":"minister-china-wont-force-internet-filter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2009\/08\/minister-china-wont-force-internet-filter\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister: China Won’t Force Internet Filter"},"content":{"rendered":"
From Wall Street Journal<\/a>:<\/p>\n \nChina’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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See also “China Scales Back Software Filter Plan<\/a>” from the New York Times and “Installation of Internet filtering software not compulsory: minister<\/a>” from Xinhua, which ends its report by saying:<\/p>\n \nInstallation 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.<\/p>\n Work on upgrading the Green Dam software is also in progress.<\/p>\n The market would still be open to similar software programs, Li said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n