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Looks like public opinion against the Green Dam Youth Escort software, including the non-stop foreign media coverage and the numerous internet petitions, has finally convinced the government that maybe it shouldn't make the install mandatory. And good thing too:
BusinessWeek reports that a closer look at the Green Dam software is much more than a program to block web porn. Researchers found that the program will automatically shut down programs based on keystroke combinations of banned words.
This kill switch doesn't just affect your web browser - test results have indicated that programs like Notepad have also involuntarily closed when certain terms (which we're not about to use in this post) are typed in. The article goes on to explain that it also keeps a log which is currently kept on your computer but could easily be made accessible to the authorities in subsequent updates.
These findings come from the OpenNet, a joint university initiative that includes notables such as Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard. Their findings not only raise questions of the particularly intrusive policy adopted by MIIT (Ministry of Industry & Information Technology) but also the effect this software will have on the stability of your operating system.
This research, along with the patent infringements, has resulted in not only a withdrawal of the plan to have Green Dam Youth Escort pre-installed in all computers destined for China has also a lawsuit. The Guardian reports:
Lawyer Li Fangping has filed a lawsuit against Green Dam. "The impact of this software will be huge. It will violate the rights of many citizens," he said. "But people were not told anything about it until a few weeks before its launch. This seriously violated the citizen's right to be informed."
Image by Dan H
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I think it's a bit premature to say the plan is withdrawn. They are still mandating that it be included with all PCs sold/manufactured in China. Obviously this is just one small step in a continuing saga.
I'm with you on this on Pete- everyone seems happy to write off Green Dam because it's as being easy to uninstall / bypass.
They forget that this is version 1.0.
I really don't think it was a 'backdown' as much as a clarification - which was reported on the 14th June btw. It says that it is a choice to install it, its recommended for schools, and only has to be a CD shipped with a new computer - NOT pre-installed.
Are the reports a bit of a wind-up?
More random notes about this:
1. Australia offers similar net nanny software for free for concerned parents who don't want their kids looking up colossal c*cks on the Internet.
2. If they wanted to get really real about this they could build the software closer to the machine.
3. Circumvention is an art here.
4. Only for Windows - Linux/Mac users unaffected
5. Government didn't set up the black list of sites, the vendors did it.
6. Interestingly, rival vendors are claiming copyright infringement and open source developers are claiming unattributed BSD licensed code.
Anyway, that's enough nerd talk from me...
First the impression was given that they'd take your money AND rape you. Now the population is appeased that it'll only be robbed for the time being, and the penetration will come later. And, if then you wish to suffer less pain, you might have to pay for vaseline.
On the bright side, MII is far too incompetent to be able to execute anything that poses a real threat to seasoned web surfers here. So maybe the Big Brother will turn out to be impotent. End of the "rape scare".
But then someone will hand him the Viagra.