The future of the mainland's highly controversial content-control software, Green Dam Youth Escort, appears in doubt after one of its developers admitted it had not received new government funding for a year.
Chen Xiaomeng , general manager of the Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy, admitted yesterday that the office where it maintained and promoted the software had been closed because of financial constraints.
Quoted by Techweb.com.cn, an internet technology news portal in Beijing, Chen denied the company had disbanded the Green Dam unit, but conceded the unit overseeing the software, which filters out inappropriate content for children, now operated from a rented classroom.
The Beijing Times reported earlier yesterday that the Beijing company had closed the office for the Green Dam project and up to 30 IT engineers were made redundant, and that another company, Zhengzhou Jinhui Computer System Engineering, based in Henan , would soon run into financial difficulties as neither company had received new funding since last year.
As a result, both companies might no longer provide updates on the filter software and after-sale services for up to 20 million users who have installed the software for free.
Dazheng said yesterday it would make a statement soon. Zhengzhou Jinhui was not available for comment. Both companies were contracted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology via an open tender to jointly develop the Green Dam Youth Escort in May 2008 for 41.7 million yuan (HK$47.8 million). Chen said his company was given 19.9 million yuan in the first year and had received nothing since.
The software is part of a broader government initiative to filter out information it perceives as harmful, particularly pornography. However, a ministry directive on May 19 last year to order all PC makers to load the software on all computers sold on the mainland triggered an outcry domestically and internationally over concerns that it was a move to further police the internet, which is already under tight control.