PC exports to China to potentially be blocked due to pirated filtering software
We're not exactly supportive of the Chinese government requiring new PCs to be imported with content-filtering software, but like we keep saying, karma's a bitch: CyberSitter developer Solid Oak says it's found stolen code inside the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software mandated by Chinese authorities, and it's considering filing a lawsuit to halt shipments. In the meantime, the company has asked heavy hitters like Dell and HP to refrain from installing Green Dam; Dell says it's still reviewing the Chinese requirements and hasn't yet shipped any machines with the software, but some nine million copies of the software have already gone out. For its part, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has "ordered the problem be fixed," but it's unclear when that'll happen -- and it still doesn't change the delicious multilayered irony of Chinese censorship efforts being thwarted by a copyright infringement action.
Update: Things were getting a little out of control down there, so we've disabled comments on this one.
