PC makers include China's internet filter software

Several PC makers said they were voluntarily including China's controversial internet filter software in new shipments despite Beijing's decision to postpone making it mandatory.

The government had been set to introduce the Chinese-made filtering programme - called the Green Dam Youth Escort - but announced the delay hours before its implementation on July 1.

However, customer service staff at PC makers including Taiwan's Acer Inc. and China's Haier Group said they were installing or packaging the software with new PCs, adding it was easy to uninstall.

"You will find it with our PCs, as the state has requested. But you can easily find a patch on the internet to uninstall it," one of Acer's service staff said.

Beijing has said the software was aimed at filtering out pornography, but computer experts found it was also programmed to suppress politically sensitive material, prompting criticism at home and abroad.

Lenovo, China's biggest computer-maker, did not immediately reply to questions on the Green Dam, but the official English-language China Daily newspaper said it was included in the firm's PCs.

An official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which licensed the technology from two local software developers, told the newspaper on Thursday that the directive's delay was only temporary.

"The government will definitely carry on the directive on Green Dam. It's just a matter of time," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Some other PC makers said they are still discussing with the government and are not installing the software without Beijing's final word.

US personal computer giant Dell said in a statement: "We continue our discussions with the Chinese government and are not shipping Green Dam software."