WASHINGTON D.C.—Beijing-based lawyer Zhou Ze sent an open letter to the Chinese authorities as a taxpayer, calling on the regime to reverse the decision to require the installation of the Chinese surveillance software "Green Dam." Zhou said that this order violates many laws.
Green Dam is software that can block certain Web sites on the regime's "blacklist," restrict access to chat rooms, and control the amount of time a user spends online. In May, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ordered computer manufacturers to install Green Dam on all new computers sold after July 1, which has now been postponed. The stated goal is to keep Chinese youths from accessing pornographic Web sites.
Zhou Ze, a lawyer with the law firm Wentian Attorneys wrote an open letter to the Industry and Information Technology Ministry on June 26. As a taxpayer, he criticized the ministry for purchasing and promoting Green Dam. He said, "The government should not pay for goods for private use with public funds. In my view, a product like Green Dam should be bought by parents of youths. The government should not spend taxpayer funds on it. I think the process of procurement of these products using public money is illegal."
He also said that this order violated other laws, such as anti-trust laws, consumer protection laws, and fair-market competition laws.
Furthermore, Zhou said that the authorities’ goal is to limit the public's access to certain information on the Internet. This violates the spirit of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Chinese Constitution.
He said, "This is a real concern. This software has the ability to filter information. It's hard to say whether the filtered information is what the public needs. The software can potentially affect our freedom of speech, including the freedom to receive and deliver information."
United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke also sent a letter to China expressing his concerns about the requirement to install filter software. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly stated that the Chinese authorities’ order would directly affect the free flow of information.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said that regardless of differing opinions on the issue, China has the responsibility to protect its youths from harmful Internet information.
Attorney Zhou said that if the regime does not reverse the order requiring Green Dam on all new computers, as a citizen and taxpayer, he may file a lawsuit against the relevant agencies.
Read original article in Chinese.
|
|
|
