China Green Dam crumbles after protests
China has put its controversial plan to force PC manufacturers to ship filtering software in the country on ice. Beijing announced earlier this month that all PCs shipped in the country should include Green Dam Youth Escort software to keep young Chinese safe from porn. The plan prompted an immediate outcry, with accusations …
Sony can get a special award for being the only company (as far as I've heard) to have rolled over and agreed to the scheme - just hours before its postponement:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/29/sony-now-including-green-dam-filtering-software-on-pcs-sold-in/
Presumably this thing is Windows software? In which case, it likely can be removed. Either by removing the app or else re-installing Windows. Or better yet, install Ubuntu (or whatever your favourite flavour of Linux is) and then you are in complete control of what runs on your PC.
So, this software was only ever going to apply to the stupid anyway (those who didn't know how, or couldn't be bothered to wipe the hard drive and re-format when they got their new PC). Anyone 'subversive' would already have wiped and re-installed anway.
So, utterly pointless in the first place hence no big deal on the climb down.
I never saw this as a giant evil scheme, just a really bad idea. As far as I ever heard, it was to be optional to the consumer. They weren't even forcing manufacturers install it, just packaging a disk with the PC was acceptable. Never the less it was a *really* bad idea.
The software doesn't even work on 64-bit editions of Windows.
Also, it included open-source software without adhering to the license agreements, not just commercial software.
...until Australia introduces its perfect web censorship system. I'm sure Stephen Conroy, Oz's WebCensor General, would be only too happy to tell the Chinese how it's done.
What - no "Evil Conroy" icon?
Sony has a tough time hawking its stuff in Chiner.
