China's Software Blocks Terms, Opens Door To Malware

In its ongoing effort to regulate citizen access to Internet content, China has announced that all new computers sold in the country will be required to have preinstalled filtering software known as Green Dam-Youth Escort.

According to a statement published in a state-run newspaper, the Liberation Daily, the government's objective is to protect the nation's young people, who are flocking to the Web in ever-increasing numbers. "The state encourages research into Internet products that help minors surf the Web in a healthy manner," the statement said. Requests for additional explanation have gone unanswered.

Not surprisingly, the news of the new mandatory software requirement has generated considerable protest inside and outside of China.

Online Petition

According to The Wall Street Journal, an online petition was launched at midnight on Thursday to protest Green Dam. Although the number of signers is small (just more than a thousand in a nation with more than a billion residents), the comments are openly critical of the government's policy. At least one protester referenced the specter of Big Brother by writing, "I don't want to live in 1984."

While the ostensible purpose of the filtering requirement is to protect children from pornography and violent material (in fairness, similar steps have been proposed in the United States), researchers have discovered that politically sensitive terms are blocked as well.

For instance, efforts to connect to sites about the meditation technique Falun Gong trigger a pop-up message that declares the site harmful and then shuts down the browser. Similar shutdowns occur in response to other phrases deemed subversive by the Chinese government.

Other researchers report that similar shutdowns occur when sensitive terms are typed into various Microsoft software products, including Word, Notepad and MSN's instant messaging. That implies a degree of keystroke monitoring that may be unprecedented for a central government.

Vulnerabilities, or Backdoors?

Of greater concern to...