China in internet filtering climbdown

China has agreed to delay implementation of its policy to have all new computers in the country equipped with a controversial internet filtering software, averting the threat that PC makers not complying by Wednesday would face fines.

“Depending on the concrete situation, [they] can pre-install [the programme] later,” the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement issued through Xinhua, the official news agency, on Tuesday night.

The last-minute climbdown follows a stand-off after Beijing’s order to PC makers last month to start pre-installing or bundling Green Dam/Youth Escort – a domestically developed net nanny software – met with security concerns among PC makers and outrage among Chinese internet users.

As of Tuesday, staff at Chinese electronics retailers still said they had received no PCs fitted with Green Dam, and that there was no chance that PC makers would comply with the deadline.

The MIIT said its policy direction had not changed but it was ready to implement it step by step. It said in a round of consultations on Green Dam in March that it had received “broad support” from PC makers. According to the ministry, the software has since been downloaded more than 7m times, including installations on internet café and school computers.

A series of independent tests has since found that the software, despite Beijing’s assurances that it is nothing but a parental control instrument, has broader censorship functions and could make PCs vulnerable to spying attacks and destabilise their systems.

MIIT on Tuesday rejected such criticism and blamed “a minority of foreign media and institutions” for spreading “incorrect reports”. But it said to address PC makers’ recent complaints that the July 1 deadline was too short-term, it was ready to give them more time.

“We will continue after July 1 to offer free downloads, continue to install the filtering software in primary and middle schools and internet cafes and other public places, and encourage those PC makers who have already installed it to actively expand their market share,” the statement said.

So far Acer, the world’s third-largest PC maker, has been the only company to openly say that it expects to have to comply with the order to pre-install Green Dam.

Dell, the number two computer-maker, avoided crowing about the crucial if not permanent victory. “We respect the Chinese government’s stated goal of protecting children by filtering access to pornography through the Internet,” said spokesman David Frink. “We’ll continue to advise customers worldwide about widely available web-filtering software that has been thoroughly tested and we know performs well on Dell computers.”

Hewlett-Packard had no immediate comment.

Beijing’s move opens the door to dialogue with the US government, which has protested about the Green Dam order on the grounds it might violate several World Trade Organisation commitments.

The US Trade Representative and the Commerce department, which have pursued the matter along with the State Dapartment, said in a joint statement on Tuesday that ”the United States welcomes the opportunity to engage with the relevant Chinese authorities on our concerns regarding the software”.

China’s government has a record of worrying and infuriating industry with sudden harsh regulatory orders, only to quietly back down later.

Industry insiders in China said on Tuesday they hoped the sign of compromise would allow them to completely overturn the Green Dam policy. “We have been pushing, and they’ve stopped. So now we have to keep pushing, and hopefully then they’ll move backwards,” one said.