China delays Green Dam rollout indefinitely

Count this as a small victory for computer users everywhere, especially those residing in China. Announcing via Xinhua, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that a mere 1 day before the July 1st deadline was to go into effect, they have decided to hold off on any mandatory install deadline indefinitely as to give “computer producers more time to put the order into effect”. Which…loosely translated and stripping out the PR BS means “there was so much public outrage and disapproval at home and abroad….we just scared!!!” Not everyone will benefit however as school and internet cafe computers are exempt fromt his new revelation. The Ministry also went on to say that Green Dam would be available for download to anyone who wanted to install it on their own terms, (like that’s going to happen).

**Update** As suspected, the rollout of Green Dam is not cancelled, but merely postponed. Several manufacturers are already bundling the software with new PCs. Those manufacturers include: Acer, Benq, Haier, and Sony. Other PC manufacturers such as Acer have stated that they are planning to roll out the software bundled in with new PCs at a near term future date. Manufactuers HP, Dell and Toshiba are still mum on when or how they plan to rollout Green Dam.