时事新闻:中国推迟新电脑预装"绿坝"

【英文原文】

Net Nanny Software Climbdown by China

摘要：中国已同意推迟实施新规定，即从今天起，个人电脑制造商在该国所有的新电脑上都要预装有争议的网络过滤软件，此前这项要求在中国国内外引发了一波抗议声浪。

China has agreed to delay today's deadline for personal computer makers to put controversial internet filtering software on all new computers in the country following a storm of protests at home and abroad.

“Depending on the concrete situation, [they] can pre-install [the program] later,” the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said last night in a statement issued through Xinhua, the official news agency.

The last-minute climbdown, which averts the threat of fines for computer makers, follows Beijing's order to PC makers last month to start pre-installing Green Dam/Youth Escort – domestically developed net nanny software. The move led to security concerns among PC makers and outrage among Chinese internet users.

The domestic uproar was the largest factor in forcing the delay, followed by private sector complaints and pressure from governments abroad, said one person involved in co-ordinating the response.

Complete reversals by the Chinese authorities are rare, and the computer industry was optimistic that the requirement would instead be allowed to fade away. Executives were especially encouraged that the government skipped an anticipated fallback position requiring the companies to at least include the software on a separate disk.

As of yesterday, staff at Chinese electronics retailers said they had received no PCs fitted with Green Dam, and that there was no chance that PC makers would comply with today's deadline.

The MIIT said in a round of consultations on Green Dam in March that it had received “broad support” from PC makers. According to the ministry, the software has since been downloaded more than 7m times, including installations on internet café and school computers.

A series of independent tests has since found that the software has broader censorship functions and could make PCs vulnerable to spying attacks and destabilise their systems.

Rebecca MacKinnon, a Hong Kong journalism professor and expert on Chinese censorship, said the move offered an important lesson for the online world. “There's been this impression in the internet industry that when the Chinese government makes a demand, they have to roll over and play dead. The lesson here is that's not necessarily the case,” she said.

So far Acer, the world's third-largest PC maker, has been the only company to openly say that it expects to have to comply with the order to pre-install Green Dam.

Dell, the number two computer-maker, said: “We respect the Chinese government's stated goal of protecting children,” said spokesman David Frink.

Hewlett-Packard had no immediate comment.

【中文译文】

中国已同意推迟实施新规定，即从今天起，个人电脑制造商在该国所有的新电脑上都要预装有争议的网络过滤软件，此前这项要求在中国国内外引发了一波抗议声浪。

“根据实际情况，（他们）可以推迟预装（这个程序），”工业和信息化部昨晚在通过官方的新华社发布的声明中表示。

在最后一刻收回成命，使电脑制造商可以免受罚款的威胁。北京上月下令电脑制造商开始预装本土开发的网络保姆软件“绿坝－花季护航”。此举引发了电脑制造商的安全顾虑和中国网民的愤怒。

据一名参与协调回应的人士透露，就迫使推迟而言，国内抗议声浪是最大因素，其次是私营部门投诉和外国政府的压力。

中国官方极少会完全收回成命，电脑行业乐观地认为，这一要求如今将被允许逐渐淡出。令业内高管特别受到鼓舞的是，政府没有退而采取人们曾预期的折衷立场，即要求企业至少在电脑出厂时随附软件光盘。

截至昨日，中国电子零售商的员工表示，他们还没有收到任何预装“绿坝”的电脑，而电脑制造商也不可能遵守今日最后期限的要求。

工业和信息化部在今年3月就“绿坝”进行的一轮磋商中表示，它得到了“众多计算机厂商的支持”。据该部介绍，自那以来，这种软件已被下载逾700万次，包括在网吧和学校电脑上安装。

一系列独立测试已经发现，这种软件有更广泛的审查功能，还可能使电脑容易受到恶意攻击，并使电脑系统不稳定。

香港新闻学教授、中国审查制度专家麦康瑞(Rebecca MacKinnon)表示，此举为网上世界提供了一个重要教训。“互联网行业一直有这样一个印象，即每当中国政府提出一个要求，他们就不得不转过身去装死。而这次的教训是，情况未必是这样，”她表示。

迄今只有全球第三大电脑制造商宏碁(Acer)一家公司公开表示，它预期将不得不遵守预装“绿坝”的命令。

全球第二大电脑制造商戴尔(Dell)的发言人大卫•弗林克(David Frink)表示：“我们尊重中国政府声明的保护儿童的目标。”

惠普(Hewlett-Packard)没有立即置评。