The controversy surrounding the Chinese government’s attempt to have all new PCs equipped with ‘net nanny’ software from next month stepped up a gear after US software company Solid Oak widened its legal action to stop PC makers from shipping their machines with the programme.

Solid Oak, the California-based software group that sells the Cybersitter software for parental internet access control, claims that the Green Dam/Youth Escort programme infringes its intellectual property. Beijing is requiring PC makers supply the net nanny programme, which was developed by China’s Jinhui Computer Systems Engineering and Dazheng Language Technology and commissioned by the government, with every new machine from July 1.