China Says Its Okay For Users To Delete Its New Censorware
from the wasn't-expecting-that dept
Well, this is certainly something of a surprise. Earlier this month, China required new censorware be installed on all computers sold there. Of course, this upset a bunch of people and also raised serious security concerns. Still, we didn't expect the Chinese gov't to back down. However, a variety of lawsuits and public protests in China has resulted in at least some backing down by the government. The gov't is now saying that while the software will come installed on all new PCs, there's no requirement that it be used. Of course, it's not at all clear how easy it is to disable the software. The software is apparently uninstallable (or so the makers claim), but this new statement from the government makes it clear that there shouldn't be sanctions against those who do go through with the uninstall.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: blocking, censorship, china, great firewall, security
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
format ; reload
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yea... right!
They are going to say it is not required to be used... so they would look good in western media. But in fact everyone not using the software would be bullied so that people would be afraid not to use it... and China will claim that everybody just uses it voluntarily.
I remember those things - you 'can' legally criticize your local communist party leader... but if you do you are not trustworthy and you are 'against people' so your kids will not be allowed to study at the university and your mom will be the last one to get treatment she needs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yea... right!
Basically, that would simplify the process of censorship by narrowing the set potential dissidents.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Yea... right!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yea... right!
Then after a uninstaller is made create a dummy program to make it seem as if it is installed but not actually do any thing.
It would be like what people do to programs that HAVE TO HAVE DRM to work but do not want that junk running.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tianeman Square
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If you want to be dragged out into the square and hung.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Step 2: Announce that the spyware can be uninstalled.
Step 3: "Uninstall" spyware, leaving behind a Trojan...
Sigh.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]