Computers in China to have pre-installed Internet filter to protect minors

BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China said Tuesday it would have all new computers in China pre-installed with filter software packages, in a bid to protect minors from pornographic contents and other "unhealthy" information on the Internet.

All computers produced or sold in China after July 1 would be installed with such software, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The ministry requires imported computers to be installed with the software before being sold, saying that the government's policy was "responding to the calls from many school faculties and parents".

The filter software package, comprising two programs called "Lvba-Huajihuhang" in Chinese (meaning Green Dam and Escorting Minors), could filter porn words and images on the Internet.

Minors in China usually refer to children under the age of 18.

The Green Dam and Escorting Minors could identify and block pornographic or violent images and words on the Internet. The package could also help parents control the time of Internet connection for their children.

The software could also enable parents to control the function of various online communication tools such MSN Messenger, QQ, Skype, Yahoo Messenger in a bid to prevent children from being exploited.

The software could be switched off and uninstalled by parents.

Pornographic content is described in Chinese law as descriptions of "sexual discourse that blatantly publicises pornographic and lewd images". Artwork and contents explaining the anatomy of human bodies do not fall in that category, according to the law.

The ministry said it had purchased the exclusive use and service of the software for one year funded by the central government's financial budget, and the computer makers and any Internet users would be free to use the package.

According to a government procurement statement posted on the ministry's website, the central government spent 41.7 million yuan (6.13 million U.S. dollars) in purchasing the software from their developers.