Recent Results tagged “greendam”
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Schools, teachers also hate Green Dam
The saga of problems and setbacks that China has faced in attempting to implement the controversial Green Dam internet censorship software just keeps on going. After postponing the software's release indefinitely this summer, the government has attempted to find ways to censor the 'net without provoking massive public outrage. Which is funny, because the government is sneaking around trying to do things on the internet without anyone noticing, just like us! Besides the ominous...
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Only 5% of kids against Green Dam... but wait!
Official media said yesterday that a recently released survey found that only 5% of youth were actually against the Green Dam, according to the SCMP. But take a look at the survey: 1,000 pupils around China, aged six to 13, were asked whether Green Dam Youth Escort was a good thing. Pollsters had to then explain to the kids what the internet, filtering software and pornography (aaawwwkwaaard) were. Of the respondants, only 14% actually...
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Gov't admits Green Dam wasn't great
We all knew it, but it's still nice to hear it coming from the top. Li Yizhong, Minister of industry and information technology, has admitted that the failed launch of that widely protested Green Dam Youth Escort was kind of a mistake. Li said that the order that went out sounded too much like the ministry was bullying people to install the program, but that had never been the government's intention. He then followed...
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Green Dam protesters celebrate censorware twist [Updated]
Photo of Ai Weiwei's Party by Shasha Liu The planned protests against the Green Dam Youth Escort turned into celebrations on Wednesday, when Chinese authorities suddenly postponed their order of the infamous censorware program. In turn, Lots of young Chinese netizens gathered to turn their Green Dam anger into a feast. The event, held in the trendy "Green Zone" in Beijing, was supposed to be a part of a larger Internet boycott against the...
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Break out the champagne! Green Dam delayed!
Hurrah! China has decided to delay indefinitely its plans to force manufacturers to include that Green Dam Youth Escort software on new computers, just hours before the policy was supposed to start. Their reasoning: "Some businesses pointed out the heavy amount of work, time pressures and lack of preparation." The news comes days after various international organizations petitioned the Party, begging for it to rethink the regulations, and PC makers have said that they...
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Dear China: Can we just drop this Green Dam business?
In a surprising twist to the Green Dam software controversy, a direct letter was submitted on Friday to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao asking the government to "reconsider implementing the Green Dam requirements". Signed by the heads of 22 international organizations, including the American Chamber of Commerce in China, the European-American Business Council, and the National Foreign Trade Council, the letter is a not often seen public confrontation of Chinese leadership. One official noted the...
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Today´s Links: U.S. Objects to China´s Web Filtering, World of Warcraft Languishes Offline in China
World of Warcraft U.S. Objects to China’s Web Filtering [NYTimes.com] The Obama administration lodged a formal protest on Wednesday with the Chinese government over its plan to force all computers sold in China to come with software that blocks access to certain Web sites. Do China And India Really Want Stronger Intellectual Property? [Techdirt] "Over the past few months, I have been researching the role that intellectual property plays in China and India, with...
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Green Dam makers getting harassed
Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co. is now getting constantly harassed for creating the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software that'll be distributed with all new computers next week. According to GM Zhang Chenmin, over 1000 harassing phone calls were made to the company this month, and one even threatened to kill his wife and child. "Most of the calls came late at night, cursing our staff and uttering obscenities, voicing their resentment against the...
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Ai Weiwei protesting Green Dam with internet blackout
Oh that troublesome Ai Weiwei! Not content to stick to taking subversive pictures around Tiananmen Square or investigating Sichuan Earthquake victims, he's now starting internet blackout protest days! The contemporary artist/activist has now called for all surfers to stay offline on July 1, the day when manufacturers must startshipping computers with that Green Dam-Youth Escort program preinstalled. According to the South China Morning Post (paywalled): Outspoken Beijing artist Ai Weiwei, who helped design the...
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Today's Links: More on the green dam, "Buying China," and sex change guidelines
Computer-makers fight China's filter order [SFGate] "Responding to another citizens' revolt, 4,000 miles from Tehran, China reportedly won't force individual computer users to install software to filter out "harmful" stuff. But it has not backed down on its order that, as of July 1, all PCs sold in China must have such software installed. That, as we've noted, puts No. 1 U.S. seller of PCs in China, Palo Alto's Hewlett-Packard Co., in a serious...
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Quote of the Day: Qin Gang (秦刚), Foreign Ministry spokesman
我想提醒你的是，这里是外交部的新闻发布厅， 不是讨论同性恋问题的场所。What I'd like to remind you is this.This is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference and not a forum for the discussion of gay issues. — Qin Gang (秦刚), Foreign Ministry spokesman In response to a question by a journalist on why the word "homosexuality" was among the list of filtered words in the Green Dam censorship software even though China has no laws against homosexuality. [Source]...
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Green Dam plan withdrawn due to public pressure
Looks like public opinion against the Green Dam Youth Escort software, including the non-stop foreign media coverage and the numerous internet petitions, has finally convinced the government that maybe it shouldn't make the install mandatory. And good thing too: BusinessWeek reports that a closer look at the Green Dam software is much more than a program to block web porn. Researchers found that the program will automatically shut down programs based on keystroke combinations...
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Green Dam software actually pirated?
So not only is the Green Dam firewall software filled with whopping security flaws, it now looks like it's not even original code. The Jinhui Computer System Engineering Company, creator of Green Dam, is now being accused of using stolen intellectual property from the American firm Solid Oak Software. The Green Dam software is meant to filter the web and mainly focuses on porn. According to Solid Oak, the Chinese company has taken substantial...
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Around Shanghai: Quarantines, green dams and other annoyances
James Fallows puts the spotlight on a writer currently quarantined in Shanghai, who is experiencing a nightmare of helpless frustration in the face of such illogical preventative measures (current Shanghaiist editors hope they won't be facing something similar on entry). [The Atlantic] Schools around Shanghai are now being ordered to equip computers with the Green Dam software, effectively guaranteeing that they'll be infected by malware. [Shanghai Daily] China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines might be...
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I'm a Mac, you're a Green Dam infested PC*
Resistance is futile: they've already started installing Green Dam internet filtering software in schools. The censorware is, according to its proponents, help in the eternal battle against smut and other morally damaging materials. Although we have our doubts as to how many Chinese students really have the time to scour smut at school, we are old enough Some real Wolverines — at the University of Michigan — have just done a brief study of...
