時事新聞:中國推遲新電腦預裝"綠壩"
【英文原文】
Net Nanny Software Climbdown by China
摘要：中國已同意推遲實施新規定，即從今天起，個人電腦製造商在該國所有的新電腦上都要預裝有爭議的網絡過濾軟件，此前這項要求在中國國內外引發了一波抗議聲浪。
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.
【中文譯文】
中國已同意推遲實施新規定，即從今天起，個人電腦製造商在該國所有的新電腦上都要預裝有爭議的網絡過濾軟件，此前這項要求在中國國內外引發了一波抗議聲浪。
“根據實際情況，（他們）可以推遲預裝（這個程序），”工業和信息化部昨晚在通過官方的新華社發佈的聲明中表示。
在最後一刻收回成命，使電腦製造商可以免受罰款的威脅。北京上月下令電腦製造商開始預裝本土開發的網絡保姆軟件“綠壩－花季護航”。此舉引發了電腦製造商的安全顧慮和中國網民的憤怒。
據一名參與協調回應的人士透露，就迫使推遲而言，國內抗議聲浪是最大因素，其次是私營部門投訴和外國政府的壓力。
中國官方極少會完全收回成命，電腦行業樂觀地認爲，這一要求如今將被允許逐漸淡出。令業內高管特別受到鼓舞的是，政府沒有退而採取人們曾預期的折衷立場，即要求企業至少在電腦出廠時隨附軟件光盤。
截至昨日，中國電子零售商的員工表示，他們還沒有收到任何預裝“綠壩”的電腦，而電腦製造商也不可能遵守今日最後期限的要求。
工業和信息化部在今年3月就“綠壩”進行的一輪磋商中表示，它得到了“衆多計算機廠商的支持”。據該部介紹，自那以來，這種軟件已被下載逾700萬次，包括在網吧和學校電腦上安裝。
一系列獨立測試已經發現，這種軟件有更廣泛的審查功能，還可能使電腦容易受到惡意攻擊，並使電腦系統不穩定。
香港新聞學教授、中國審查制度專家麥康瑞(Rebecca MacKinnon)表示，此舉爲網上世界提供了一個重要教訓。“互聯網行業一直有這樣一個印象，即每當中國政府提出一個要求，他們就不得不轉過身去裝死。而這次的教訓是，情況未必是這樣，”她表示。
迄今只有全球第三大電腦製造商宏碁(Acer)一家公司公開表示，它預期將不得不遵守預裝“綠壩”的命令。
全球第二大電腦製造商戴爾(Dell)的發言人大衛•弗林克(David Frink)表示：“我們尊重中國政府聲明的保護兒童的目標。”
惠普(Hewlett-Packard)沒有立即置評。
