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China’s ‘Great Internet Firewall’ thickens; Lenovo, other PC makers ship filtering software

China's Internet firewall thickens

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• China Daily report
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By Rick Smith

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Many more bricks are being added to The Great Internet Firewall of China today as Lenovo and other manufacturers begin shipping “Green Dam” filtering software with PCs sold in the land of the dragon.

The shipping has begun even though the authoritarian Chinese government has lifted a mandate on inclusion of the filtering software that is designed to control pornography and dangerous thought (you know, like true freedom of the press).

"All the latest models of Thinkpad have been delivered with Green Dam included since the beginning of the month,” Feng Erbei, a sales representative for Lenovo in Beijing, told China Daily.

In a statement provided to Local Tech Wire earlier this month, Lenovo, which is based in Morrisville but is largely based in China and is the top PC seller there, said it would comply with Chinese law just as it complies with laws in other countries.

Lenovo sent another update to LTW on Friday: "For consumers in China who purchase a Lenovo PC, we are providing a CD-ROM in the box. It is up to the customer whether to install the CD or not."

A Lenovo spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that installing Green Dam “is entirely up to the customer. We are complying with the law and continue to monitor the situation as it evolves,” the spokesperson added.

However, as both China Daily and the Journal reported Friday, not every PC maker is shipping Green Dam. Among them: HP and Dell.

Acer, which is based in Taiwan and is the No. 3 PC maker worldwide ahead of Lenovo but behind HP and Dell, said Green Dam will ship in August. An Acer spokesperson told China Daily that Green Dam, which is written in China but is alleged to include pirated code from the U.S., will be free and will appeal to buyers “who want to protect their children from harmful content.”

Not everyone, though. Lenovo’s Feng conceded that Green Dam is controversial. Protestors have said they are concerned that the software will enable invasions of privacy.

"We never mention the existence of the software during sales, because we don't want to turn customers away," Feng was quoted as saying.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is responsible for the Green Dam mandate, and no new deadline has been set, China Daily said.

Meanwhile, the Wall gets ever higher, mandate or not.

The Skinny

WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…