Green Dam Not Out to Censor China, Says Its Creator - by Loretta Chao
The May 19 Chinese government notice about the requirement to install Green Dam software on computers being sold in China says this directive is aimed at "constructing a green, healthy, and harmonious Internet environment, and preventing harmful information on the Internet from influencing and poisoning young people." The software was developed by Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co., with input from Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy Co.
To try to reassure observers that Green Dam’s function is purely to block pornography and other content inappropriate for kids, Zhang, founder of Jinhui Computer System Engineering, one of the two companies that developed Green Dam, gave a step-by-step demonstration of the software for The Wall Street Journal. Zhang said that even users who have the software on the hard drive of their new PC would need to use an installer program to activate it. When they do so, they have the option of registering the software by providing some personal information. Users are given a standard password, which they can change, that enables them to access the program’s settings or turn it off. He showed how parents can turn on or off filtering for five categories of content: “adult/ pornography,” “extreme adult/pornography,” “violent games,” “homosexuality,” and “illegal activities/drugs.” Zhang said that “illegal activities” includes, but isn’t limited to, gambling. Users can also opt to turn on or off the notifications that appear when a Web site is blocked by Green Dam.
Mr. Zhang acknowledged it’s possible for the program to mistakenly block some Web sites, or allow Web sites with nudity to pass through filters.
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