Reactions mixed over plan to filter Net access in China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-27 17:04

When asked why people are indifferent over installing the software, Yu Guoming, a professor at the Renmin University of China, said: "Minors only account for no more than one quarter of the population. People may not think it's necessary to install filter software on all computers."

Yu suggested that the government install Green Dam on computers that are used in such public places as museums, schools and libraries.

Ma Pengfei said: "The government's original intention was good, but it is not proper for the government to make the installation mandatory when the public know little about the software."

The MIIT has already made an oral clarification. On June 10, it said: "The notice to PC makers and sellers does not mean that the software's installation as part of users' operating systems is mandatory. Instead, the software package should be installed on either the hard drives or a compact disc with the computers."

MIIT spokesman Liu Lihua said that the software could be switched off and uninstalled by computer users.

Zhang Chenmin, general manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co. Ltd., developer of Green Dam, said the software was just a way of providing an option for computer users, especially the parents of minors.

Zhang said that the software would not be used to spy on users' personal information.

But, Ma Jingjing, the mother of a seven-year-old, said: "I still worry about whether the software will disturb the normal operation of my computer."

Green Dam has also been criticized for possible technical flaws.

A report from researchers at the University of Michigan in the United States alleged that Green Dam had faults that could leave PCs open to hacker attacks and downloads of malicious software.

And there's some question about whether the software even really knows what it's looking for.

When software enthusiasts tested cartoons using Green Dam, the Japanese Doraemon, a cat dressed in blue, is "safe" to the software. But Garfield, another fictional cat, will sometimes will be filtered, because the animal is yellow -- and the software considers an image with a large area of "yellow" as pornographic.

An engineer with the MIIT who asked to remain anonymous noted several days ago the ministry had assigned some staff to repair program faults.

Ma Pengfei said: "It will take a long time before the MIIT can improve the technical level of the software."

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