Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/08/china_bundles_censor/
China wants parental control of all PCs
That's a big bundling deal
Posted in Government, 8th June 2009 15:07 GMT
Free whitepaper – Dell PowerEdge servers product guide
The Chinese government is ordering all computer makers to include a version of parental control software with every machine sold within China.
From 1 July all PC makers must either pre-load porn-restricting software onto machines or include a CD.
The software goes by the slightly-pornographic name of "Green Dam-Youth Escort" and is provided by Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, helped by the Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy Co, according to the Wall Street Journal. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124440211524192081.html#articleTabs%3Darticle)
The paper said the main target of the software was pornographic content. PCs loaded with the software will check a list of banned sites from a list maintained by Jinhui. Of course this means that the government could add more political, rather than just porny, sites.
The Chinese government already runs higher-level censorship - the Great Firewall of China which blocks content it considers unsuitable. But this is avoidable by technical users.
Apart from the censorship issue, the update process would also create a tempting target for hackers. If a good proportion of China's PCs are all linking to one site for updates, then a malware creator could almost instantly create a vast botnet of compromised machines. ®