Starting this July 1, computers sold in China must include government- developed and provided spyware that blocks pornography and political dissent from Chinese netizens. This software would allow the government to regularly update computers with an ever-changing list of banned Web sites. Industry veterans say they are worried the software may simply be a Trojan horse for greater Internet control.
PC makers such as Dell, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard were asked to bundle the spyware preinstalled with every PC that they sell in China. Around 40 million personal computers were sold last year in China and PC makers may not dare to question the government’s decision to include the spyware.
Chinese netizens are already under tight scrutiny under the Golden Shield Project. Under this project most of the websites including many popular websites are already blocked. Ultimate aim of Golden Shield Project is to integrate a gigantic online database with an all-encompassing surveillance network – incorporating speech and face recognition, closed-circuit television, smart cards, credit records, and Internet surveillance technologies. So for Chinese it might be just another piece of crap on their machine.
Here is the list of popular websites already blocked in Chinese mainland.
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