China requires PCs to come with anti-porn software

BEIJING -- China is requiring personal computers sold domestically to carry software that blocks online pornography and other websites — potentially giving the government new control over the Internet with a tool the developer said Monday will give parents more oversight.

The software, called "Green Dam-Youth Escort," prevents computers from accessing sites with pornographic pictures or language, Zhang Chenmin, general manager of Jinhui Computer System Engineering, told The Associated Press. The company was compiling a database of sites to block.

The software could also be used to block other websites, depending on keywords, Zhang said. The Chinese government routinely blocks political sites, especially ones it considers socially destabilizing such as sites that challenge the ruling Communist Party, promote democratic reform or advocate independence for Tibet.

Parents can also add sites to the database of blacklisted sites, Zhang said, and consumers will be able to uninstall the software.

"If a father doesn't want his son to be exposed to content related to basketball or drugs, he can block all websites related to those things," Zhang said.

He said users could also unblock websites, but they will not be able to see the full database. He said the software does not monitor or send IP addresses to third parties.

Zhang said his company, based in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan in central China, signed a 21 million yuan ($3 million) contract with the Chinese government last May to develop the software and distribute it to personal computer-makers free of charge within one year, to be included with units meant for domestic sale. The software was jointly developed by Beijing Dazheng Language Technology Co. Ltd., which declined to comment.

China, which has the world's largest population of Internet users at more than 250 million, this year launched a nationwide crackdown on Internet pornography, which is banned in China. More than 1,900 websites have been shut down since the beginning of the campaign and websites including Google and Baidu, China's most popular search engine, were criticized for linking to suspect sites.