The WIPO, which has close working relationship with the WTO on IPR issues, has announced the establishment of a new Arbitration and Mediation Centre (AMC) in Singapore, reportedly the first such centre outside Geneva.
I have previously blogged about the possibility of the WTO relocating to SG or HK. Now that the WIPO has made the move, will the WTO follow suit?
On 1st and 2nd of August, the Asian Society of International Law will hold its second biennial conference in Tokyo. While I would not be physically there, my fellow co-authors Saadia M. Pekkanen and Dukgeun Ahn will present out joint paper on "From Rule Takers, Shakers to Makers: How Japan, China and Korea Shaped New Norms in International Economic Law". For more information on the conference, please see here. Below are the first few lines of the paper:
While the rise of Asia in the international economy has been widely noted, much less appreciated is the way in which that rise has interacted with the forces of international economic law (IEL). Perhaps the most dominant perception among both legal scholars and social scientists is still that formal law does not play much of a role in the East Asian region – that its institutions are weak, that it has a preference for non-legalistic methods and non-binding commitments which also extend to dispute settlement mechanisms, and that in contrast to highly legal systems as, for example in Europe, far more weight should be given to the competition of national economies and ethnic groups in growing markets than legal dimensions in the case of Asia even today.
This very conceptualization that goes within and across Asian countries has also been extended to their behavior at the multilateral and international levels. Yet even those holding to the contrast between high levels of legalization in Europe and North America and low ones in the case of Asia in the early 2000s had also begun to note the increasing role of formal law in Asia. This shift towards legalism has been most prominent at the global multilateral level as a number of works have stressed the importance of law and legal processes by and for Asian countries in contexts such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as through burgeoning Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). In this paper we go further and take the first systematic steps towards a comparison of the activities of the dominant players in contemporary Asia, namely China, Japan, and Korea (CJK) with the goal of bringing them into mainstream debates and controversies in IEL.
Using an interdisciplinary approach combining political economy approaches with legal scholarship, we aim to show how legalization has become a force to contend within Asia. By legalization we mean specifically that, in significant contrast to the past, Asian countries have begun to stress the dimensions of precision (unambiguous rules to require, authorize, or proscribe action), obligation (rules or commitments to bind action), and delegation (third parties to implement, interpret, and apply the rules for disputes or further rule-making) in a wide range of their economic relations. To be clear, we are not stressing that by doing so they are moving toward legal integration, where like the European and Andean cases, formal or informal moves help create a seamless rule of law affecting domestic actors and international tribunals. Rather, driven by their activities at the global, multilateral and now increasingly regional levels, the moves toward legalization should be seen as an evolutionary move toward the creation of the rule of law across borders. Thus as Asian states have begun to stress the dimensions of precision, obligation, and delegation in their economic relationships at present, the sum total of their moves may well go on to have significant implications for the creation of such rule of law systems in the future particularly in their foreign economic diplomacy.
Put simply, then, our main contention in this paper is that Asian states are no longer merely passive rule-takers in a system of IEL still widely thought to be dominated by Western countries, principally the United States and European Communities. Rather, as their economic clout has risen at both the global and regional level, key Asia states such as CJK have become aggressive users of the dispute settlement system of the WTO with novel directions in their domestic institutional landscapes; and they have also moved well beyond the narrow confines of the WTO-centered system to shape even regional and cross-regional legal frameworks to their advantage. How and why did things come to this? What exactly are the legal consequences both for IEL and these countries' domestic legal systems? What does the sum total of these sequential changes portend for the rule of law in CJK and other Asian countries more broadly?
The remainder of the paper is in three parts. The first part provides an analytical framework that stresses the rise and significance of commercial interests operating across borders, irrespective of whether the source is public or private in nature. Thus we are less concerned with whether a government or a business is responsible for economic flows across borders than with the fact that those flows are taking place. It also provides a brief statistical background, placing Asia's economic weight in global and regional context. Although we look at East Asia more broadly in the paper, we focus on the relative weight of dominant regional players, namely CJK which also go on to form the bulk of the analysis in this paper. The second part turns to the empirical evidence, focusing on substantial changes at both the international and domestic levels over the past twenty years that deserve close attention. At the international level, in breaking with their own tradition of being reluctant litigants, CJK along with other East Asian states have started to "shake" the existing power structure by actively using the existing legal rules to advance and defend their own interests in a policy shift to "aggressive legalism." This ongoing policy shift is one of the core elements for fortifying the "rule-based" WTO system, as well as strengthening the trend toward regional interaction on the basis of rules. But these same states have also moved well beyond the WTO-centered system in the 2000s more visibly, as they have actually started to "make" new norms by proposing new rules at the multilateral level and creating a web of legal agreements at the inter-regional and intra-regional level that aim to reflect their own interests. These instruments span trade, investment, and finance, and are a harbinger of the continued legalization of Asian economic relations. The third part concludes, focusing on the implications of the analytical and empirical evidence for the future of the rule of law in the multilateral and regional system more broadly.
WSJ: U.S. Wins Trade Dispute With China Over CDs, DVDs
Associated Press
GENEVA -- The U.S. has largely prevailed in a trade dispute with China over restrictions on the sale there of American CDs, DVDs, books and computer software, two officials familiar with the ruling have told The Associated Press.
The confidential verdict from the World Trade Organization victory comes as the administration of President Barack Obama is being pressed to be tough over trade rules with China, whom many Democrats in the U.S. Congress blame in part for America's soaring trade deficits and lost manufacturing jobs.
The ruling in the case, filed during the preceding Bush administration, was released to Beijing and Washington last month, but will only be made public on Aug. 12. It finds that Beijing is breaking commerce rules by forcing U.S.-made goods from magazines to video games to be sold through Chinese state-owned companies, the officials said.
But, as with most WTO rulings, the officials say the ruling stops short of a complete U.S. victory as the three-member panel delivered mixed findings on Chinese censorship rules that apply to American-made goods, but not to Chinese products. It also permits China to make U.S. films go through one of two designated distributors to be shown in Chinese cinemas, a requirement not required of Chinese movies.
The officials who had reviewed the ruling spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules ahead of publication. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Chinese Commerce Ministry have declined to comment.
The ruling will also be of interest to a variety of American media producers from Hollywood to Silicon Valley, who argue that discriminatory Chinese rules are costing American media companies millions of dollars. The dispute includes a complaint about Chinese censorship of music recording downloads in China, such as those sold by Apple Inc.'s iTunes store.
The WTO can authorize retaliatory sanctions against countries unwilling to bring tariffs, subsidies and other trade practices in line with international agreements, but generally only after years of litigation. Washington and Beijing can appeal the verdict.
The decision was handed to the governments on June 23, the same day the United States and European Union hauled China to the WTO over allegations Beijing was favoring domestic industry by limiting exports of materials needed to produce steel, aluminum and other products.
Beijing retaliated by saying it would ask for a formal WTO investigation into an American ban on Chinese poultry, as months of relative calm between the two trading powers ended.
When the WTO launched the investigation in November 2007, it marked the fourth official U.S.-China dispute in little over a year as ex-President George W. Bush's administration stepped up pressure on Beijing.
The Geneva-based trade body backed the Bush administration, Canada and the 27-nation European Union by ruling that China was illegally blocking imports of foreign-made auto parts. Last year it also partly sided with Washington in a separate dispute over Chinese product piracy and counterfeiting, while a U.S.-Mexican complaint over Chinese government subsidies in manufacturing was settled out of court.
Washington's trade deficit with Beijing rose 4.4% to $17.5 billion in May, but is running 12.6% below last year. American manufacturers see the undervalued yuan as the major culprit in the trade deficit with the Chinese, which last year hit $266 billion, the highest recorded with one country.
Copyright © 2009 Associated Press
张斌 刘丹
全球金融危机以来，国际贸易保护主义抬头，贸易摩擦不断。今年上半年，与中国有关的贸易纠纷涉案金额已经超过了去年全年。本周，俄罗斯扣押温州商人，一大批商品可能再次被销毁的消息，再度引起关注。
对此，去年下半年以来，作为负责维护国内产业安全的商务部产业损害调查局，加大了对贸易救济案件的产业损害调查力度。
“总体而言，金融危机之下，中国国内企业的产业控制力在上升。”商务部产业损害调查局局长杨益在7月10日接受本报专访时说，这一现象并未被外界所关注。
经济观察报：产业安全在中国是如何界定的？目前中国的行业中，是否存在产业安全的问题？
杨益：对产业安全的评估，有几个体系，也存在一些争议。有的从产业控制力来看，认为国内企业或国有企业占某个产业的比例大，产业就是安全的；有的则是从竞争力的角度评价，如果这个产业有竞争力就被认为是安全的。
我们认为，产业安全是国家经济安全的重要组成部分，主要指一个国家的各个产业发展和产业利益不受内部和外部因素破坏和威胁的状态。整体来看，中国的产业是安全的，但是部分产业和企业所面临的低价过量进口冲击也不容忽视。
事实上，入世之后，中国产业安全的状况有很大的改善。从去年来看，产业安全最大的威胁就是金融危机的冲击。我们的重点产业，都遭受了金融危机的影响，这是非常明显的。
经济观察报：金融危机对我国各个行业有怎样的影响？
杨益：全球金融危机对中国金融业本身影响不大。对中国产业的影响主要是通过外部市场需求的减少、萎缩传导进来。总体来说是外向度比较高的产业受冲击 大。按顺序来说，去年初的时候是纺织、轻工，到年中的时候，就是钢铁、石化产品。到去年三、四季度和今年年初的时候是电子信息产业、重要农产品[11.10 1.19%]和服务业等了。
从今年上半年来看，十大产业振兴规划的作用还是非常明显的。首先应该是汽车，势头很好。到6月份，中国汽车市场应该是世界第一了。然后是钢铁、家电在内需拉动下有回暖迹象。
经济观察报：外资并购是否影响到了中国的产业安全？
杨益：我们专门研究过跨国并购和产业安全，在金融危机的背景下，我们内资企业的控制力在增强。因为，在这个过程中，很多的跨国公司财富正在缩水，中 国的公司，主要是上市公司，虽然也缩水，但是比例小一点。这样，一个产业中内资企业的控制力反而在上升，这是大家都没有注意到的。
经济观察报：金融危机之后，反倾销反补贴这种案件的增多对中国的产业是否形成一定的威胁？
杨益：这个威胁是比较大的，维护产业安全的形势是非常严峻的。
金融危机下，一方面各国的需求都在萎缩下降，各国政府都出台一系列提振经济的措施，增加国内的需求。另一方面，为了转嫁危机，拯救国内的市场，贸易保护主义也在盛行。
表面上，各个国家包括二十国集团会议都表示要抵制贸易保护主义，很多国家也承诺不会出台贸易保护措施，但往往是会议刚刚结束不到几天，就纷纷出台了 贸易保护措施。世贸组织7月1日发布的报告显示，在过去的3个月内，24个国家和地区共出台了83项限制贸易的措施，是同期贸易自由化措施的两倍多。
作为世界第三大贸易体，中国是遭遇贸易摩擦的主要对象。去年全球有21个国家对中国发起了93起贸易纠纷，涉及到进出口金额是62亿美元。今年1—6月份，已经有15个国家和地区对中国发起了 “两反两保”调查60起，案件数同比上升了11%，金额达到了82亿美元，这个已经超过了去年全年的涉案金额。
经济观察报：针对这种情况，中国采取了怎样的应对措施？
杨益：在这种情况下，运用WTO规则来维护产业安全、维护企业的合法权益，非常重要。作为商务部调查机关，我们非常重视这方面的工作。
从应对来说，在宏观层面，加大了对应对工作的指导，同时也积极与相关的WTO成员，相关的国家和政府进行沟通和磋商。
企业自身在贸易纠纷中依法维护自己的利益方面，也取得了较好的成果。
另一方面，一些外国产品通过低价倾销冲击中国市场，对国内的产业造成了很严重的冲击和影响。从去年下半年以来，这种现象在增多。国内企业、行业协会要求维权，制止这些不正当行为的诉求也在增多。
所以去年下半年以来，我们加强了产业损害预警监测，加大了立案调查的力度。到现在为止，已经发起了9起反倾销调查和1起针对美国的反补贴调查。
中国长期遭受美国和其他西方国家的反补贴调查，我们从1997年就制定了反补贴条例，今年6月1日公告立案的取向电工钢案是我对外发起的第一例反补 贴案。该案涉及两个国家，对美国是反倾销和反补贴合并调查，对俄罗斯是反倾销。另外，涉案金额也在增加，今年上半年发起的一起反倾销调查(对苯二甲酸)， 涉案金额达36亿美元。
经济观察报：现在这种敏感时期加大贸易救济调查力度，会不会被其他国家指责为贸易保护？
杨益：中国政府坚决反对贸易保护主义，积极维护公平竞争的市场环境。我们的立案数增加，也是因为金融危机下这些不公平的贸易行为增多。
另一方面这是企业的诉求，他们有要求。作为政府机关，按照相关法律和条例规定，企业提出申请之后，符合反倾销的规则和反倾销条例的程序的，就可以立案调查。
相比而言，中国的调查机关运用贸易救济措施是非常审慎的。我们可以很自豪地说，从1997年办第一起案子到现在为止一共是59起反倾销案，还没有哪一起被对方诉讼到WTO。
JULY 9, 2009
China Raises Stakes in Espionage Case
By ANDREW BATSON, ALEX WILSON and RACHEL PANNETT
China said a detained Australian mining executive and three colleagues "stole Chinese state secrets for a foreign country," escalating Beijing's business dispute with a major supplier and straining the economic relationship between two nations that depend on each other for growth.
Authorities have held four Shanghai-based employees of mining giant Rio Tinto PLC since Sunday. China's government broke its silence on the case Thursday, with foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang saying prosecutors have evidence that the employees stole state secrets, "which hurt China's economic interests and economic security."
Mr. Qin didn't say what secrets are alleged to have been stolen. Reports in the Chinese press Thursday, which an official at the State Security Bureau in Shanghai said were accurate, said the allegations relate to the employees' actions in negotiations -- which have yet to be resolved -- between Rio Tinto and Chinese steelmakers on the price of iron ore.
Adding to tensions, Rio Tinto last month walked away from a $19.5 billion deal to expand an alliance with Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, in favor of a tie-up with fellow Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton Ltd.
The Australian government had played down suspicions that the case is related to Rio Tinto's business dealings in China.
Three of the detained employees Chinese citizens; one of them, Stern Hu, general manager in China of Rio's iron-ore division, is an Australian of Chinese descent. The broad reach of China's state-secrets law, which has in the past been used to jail journalists and scholars, means it could cover the commercial information of state firms.
The detentions have stunned the Australian mining industry and sparked a fierce reaction from opposition politicians. In Australia, anti-China sentiment has been simmering for months as some worry about a surge in Chinese firms buying into Australian resource companies.
China has had mixed diplomatic success as it scours the world to secure energy and materials to feed its fast-growing economy. It has spent the past several years trying to build up better relations with resource-rich nations in Africa and Latin America. It has offered aid and investment to developing countries poorer than itself, and a sympathetic ear to governments not well received in the West. But China's business dealings haven't always been welcome in other countries, and the Communist Party has often not been adept at swaying foreign public opinion.
"China is now facing a great challenge. Its economy is expanding, its ties with other countries are getting closer, but frictions are also increasing," said Jia Qingguo, professor of international studies at Peking University. "It is very difficult for China to convince other countries of its good intentions."
The economic interests of China and Australia are now locked together, with Australia's iron-ore miners and China's steel industry depending heavily on each other. Australia is the world's biggest exporter of iron ore, expected to account for 40% of global seaborne iron ore produced in 2009, while China is by far the biggest importer, set to account for 62% of imports of seaborne ore this year, according to Goldman Sachs JBWere.
China has built up the world's largest steel industry to supply its voracious demand for the metal as it expands its cities and adds roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Scholars in both China and Australia say that economic interdependence will likely push the two governments to find a way to work through the current problems. "Even if the charges are found to be unfounded, it won't make a really serious dent in the nature of the relationship which at this stage is economic and strategic," said Michael McKinley, an expert in global politics at Australian National University.
Yet increasing tensions with China aren't what most people expected from Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he and the center-left Labor Party won office in November 2007. Mr. Rudd, a former diplomat in China and fluent Chinese speaker, was expected to forge closer ties with China and de-emphasize relations with traditional allies like the U.S.
Mr. Rudd has indeed sought to engage with China, meeting with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on his first overseas trip in April 2008. But he has also been careful to stress that China's rise as an economic power poses challenges for Australia. In May, his government unveiled plans to beef up defense spending over the next two decades, in part to counter China's increasing military presence in Asia.
Mr. Rudd, who is in Italy for a forum on the sidelines of the Group of Eight meeting in L'Aquila, hasn't directly intervened in the detention of the Rio employees. He told reporters he has no plans to call his Chinese counterparts to discuss the situation and is leaving it to the foreign ministry.
On Friday, Australian consular officials will be able to visit Stern Hu, the Australian citizen detained in the investigation.
Mr. Rudd's government has been wrestling with how best to handle a surge of investment by Chinese state-owned enterprises in Australia's mining sector. So far this year, more than $6 billion of such investments have been announced, more than double all of last year. The detention of Mr. Hu and the other Rio employees, who are Chinese citizens, could complicate the situation for Chinese firms now going to Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, analysts say.
"It is bad for anybody who is Chinese and in front of FIRB at the moment," one person with experience of Chinese investment in Australia said. "Until the Australian government understands what China is trying to do with the Australian citizen who has been arrested I can't imagine they will be clearing anything," this person said.
One company in the application pipeline is Lynas Corp., a rare-earth miner that is seeking approval for a 500 million Australian dollar (US$386.5 million) investment from China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co.. The FIRB declined to comment.
The strains with a key trading partner aren't unprecedented in Australia. In the 1970s, Japanese companies were investing in Australian resources for the same reasons China is now. At the time, Japan's involvement raised the ire of some Australians -- but has since been broadly recognized as providing much-needed funds for development.
"The current situation is largely the same," said Hou Minyue of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University. "There is a process the two countries need to go through to understand each other."
-Aaron Back contributed to this article.
意大利《共和国报》刊登陈德铭部长署名文章《中国言行一致反对保护主义》
2009-07-06 14:43 文章来源：商务部新闻办公室
文章类型：原创 内容分类：新闻
7月6日，意大利《共和国报》刊发了商务部长陈德铭的署名文章《中国言行一致反对保护主义》，全文如下：
中国言行一致反对保护主义
中国商务部部长 陈德铭
开放的贸易和投资体系是促进世界经济增长的重要动力。当前世界经济出现企稳迹象，但前景仍然有很大不确定性。继续坚定不移地反对保护主义，推进市场开放，保持贸易和投资渠道畅通，对世界经济能否巩固复苏势头至关重要。
中国是经济全球化重要参与者和受益者。反对保护主义，中国绝不是空喊口号、徒做姿态。目前，中国关税总水平为9.8%，其中农产品平均税率为 15.2%，仅为世界平均水平的1/4。2002—2008年，中国累计从世界进口了4.8万亿美元商品，年均增速达到25.1%，进口增量占世界同期的近9%。中国已成为世界第三大进口国。截至2008年底，中国实际利用外资超过8500亿美元，现存运营外资企业约28万家，绝大多数实现盈利。在汽车、手机、化妆品、家电等重要消费品领域，外国品牌和进口产品分别占据了中国市场70%、75%、75%和50%的份额。
在应对金融危机过程中，中国政府始终奉行互利共赢的开放战略，积极主动加强与世界各国的经贸合作，维护多边贸易体制，同舟共济、共克时艰。在已经实施的刺激经济计划中，中国遵守WTO相关规定，平等对待国内外产品，为外国企业提供了大量商机。今年以来，中国还先后组织多个投资贸易促进团赴欧美，扩大对相关国家的进口和投资贸易合作，以实际行动表明中国反对保护主义的鲜明立场。
近期，一些西方媒体报道中国将在经济刺激计划中实行所谓“购买中国货”的政策，认为中国转向保护主义。这是一种误解。前不久，中国政府有关部门为了规范政府采购行为，依据中国的《政府采购法》，重申了财政性资金的政府采购应优先购买本国产品的原有规定，针对的主要是部分地方在招标采购中歧视本国产品的做法。规定所指的本国产品也包括依法在中国设立的外商投资企业产品。事实上，中国经济刺激计划中的大量投资是社会投资，许多外国企业正在从中国实行的积极扩大内需的宏观经济政策中受益。例如，为了扩大农村消费，中国政府以财政补贴的方式鼓励农民购买家电，不少外资品牌的产品就在这项被称为 “家电下乡”的政策中中标入围，享受了中国政府的支持政策。中国目前尚非WTO《政府采购协议》成员，上述相关规定没有违背国际义务。中国政府也愿意进一步对外开放政府采购市场，希望有关成员能够本着灵活务实的态度，降低要价，为中国早日加入《政府采购协议》创造条件。
我要特别指出的是，并不是中国在搞贸易保护主义，中国恰恰是贸易保护主义的最大受害者。据WTO统计，2008年中国遭遇反倾销调查73起、反补贴调查10起，分别占全球案件总数的35%和71%，是全球遭遇贸易救济调查最多的成员。今年上半年，中国遭受的反倾销、反补贴、保障措施和特殊保障措施等贸易救济调查多达58起，涉案金额超过80亿美元。中国不会以贸易保护对抗贸易保护，但我们强烈呼吁世界各国恪守各国领导人多次做出的共同反对贸易保护主义的郑重承诺，不要让于事无补的贸易保护主义延缓世界经济复苏的步伐。
意大利是中国在欧盟的重要经贸伙伴之一，2008年双边贸易达383亿美元。中意两国经济有很强的互补性，意大利工业设计、创意产业、时尚产业世界领先，拥有众多著名品牌。中国基础制造成本低，配套体系完整，正加速推进传统产业升级改造。两国合作潜力巨大。在金融危机影响仍在继续、世界经济复苏前景还不确定的形势下，凝聚共识，携手合作，以实际行动抵制贸易和投资保护主义，这对双方和全世界都是十分有益的。我们应当以胡锦涛主席对意大利的成功访问为契机，推动两国业界积极行动起来，把机遇变成实实在在的合作成果，促进中意经贸合作再上新台阶。
Sony has started shipping PC pre-installed with Green Dam but included a disclaimer on the software with the machine.
工业和信息化部新闻发言人就绿色上网过滤软件问题答记者问
【发布时间:2009年06月30日】 【来源：新华社】 【字体：大 中 小】
６月３０日，工业和信息化部新闻发言人就绿色上网过滤软件问题，回答了记者的提问。
一、为什么要开展绿色上网过滤软件工作？这项工作的目的是什么？
互联网淫秽色情等有害信息问题已引起社会的广泛关切，我国政府有关部门开展了依法打击网络淫秽色情专项行动，但网上淫秽色情等有害信息仍然存在。社会各界尤其是广大师生、学生家长要求政府有关部门采取有效措施，营造绿色健康的网络环境。
为了保护未成年人免受网络淫秽色情等有害信息的影响，工业和信息化部依据《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于维护互联网安全的决定》、《中华人民共和国未成年人保护法》等法律规定，顺应社会各界要求，在有关部门的支持下，于５月１９日发文，要求在我国境内生产销售和进口销售的计算机预装“绿坝－花季护航 ”绿色上网过滤软件。这一工作遵照《中华人民共和国政府采购法》规定程序，以国家出资购买的方式向社会提供免费使用，目的就是为了从源头上防范有害信息对未成年人的影响。
保护未成年人免受网上淫秽色情等有害信息影响，是世界各国的共识。很多国家都不同程度地采取了法律、技术等多种手段，为未成年人提供安全的上网环境。今年世界电信和信息社会日的主题就是“保障儿童网上安全”。
营造绿色健康的网络环境，防止未成年人受到淫秽色情等有害信息毒害，政府部门和全社会都有责任和义务。这个方向是正确的，是不容置疑的。
二、绿色上网过滤软件免费下载，在中小学校、网吧等公共场所安装使用的情况和效果如何？
绿色上网过滤软件的推广主要采用了网络自由下载、首先在中小学和网吧安装使用等方式。２００９年４月，教育部联合财政部、工业和信息化部、国务院新闻办共同发文，部署全国中小学校园计算机终端安装使用“绿坝－花季护航”过滤软件。截至２００９年５月底，“绿坝－花季护航”软件累计实现下载７１７．２５万次，校园安装使用数量达到２６１．８万台，网吧推广装机量达到４６９．９２万台。经第三方机构测试，“绿坝－花季护航”软件对有害信息的拦截率达到９０％。软件使用简单，维护便捷，受到了广大师生和学生家长的好评，呼吁政府有关部门在更大范围内推广。
三、这次绿色上网过滤软件采购是否符合政府采购的有关规定？是否符合ＷＴＯ的相关规定？
工业和信息化部严格按照《政府采购法》有关规定，遵循公开、公平、公正、无排他性和自觉接受监督的原则，面向社会公开征集绿色上网过滤软件。又历经测试、评审等环节，最终确定了中标产品和采购金额。采购的内容除产品使用权外，还包括软件适应性改造、提供免费下载安装和升级以及建立呼叫中心和网上答疑等多项技术支持和售后服务内容。此次政府采购符合程序，公开透明，全程是在有关部门的严格监督下进行的。
《政府采购法》中明确规定，政府采购应采购本国货物、工程和服务。采购过程公开透明、程序严谨。绿色上网过滤软件有关工作是一项公益行为，不涉及技术、标准和贸易关系，符合ＷＴＯ的相关规定。
四、预装绿色上网过滤软件是否强制用户使用？是否会对用户的信息、上网行为形成监控？
绿色上网过滤软件是计算机终端的内容过滤软件，主要采用内容过滤技术实现对互联网淫秽色情等文本和图像信息的过滤功能，避免未成年人受互联网淫秽色情等有害信息毒害。无论是通过网络免费下载，还是在计算机中预装，用户均可自由选择安装、卸载，自主启用、关闭软件各项功能。该软件根本没有收集用户信息、监控上网行为的功能。
境外少数媒体和机构就此事进行不实报道，指责此举妨碍信息自由流动、侵犯个人隐私等，这些言论是没有根据的，也是不负责任的。
五、绿色上网过滤软件的安全性如何？目前和未来出现的安全隐患如何解决？
绿色上网过滤软件在开发过程中已充分考虑到软件安全性问题，并多次委托第三方测试机构进行了测试。以补丁、升级等方式解决使用中发现的各种缺陷是软件厂商的通行做法。绿色上网过滤软件供应商已针对前期使用过程中反映的技术问题进行了升级，还将在后续推广应用中持续对软件进行升级和完善。欢迎社会各界提出进一步完善的建议。
六、“绿坝－花季护航”软件是否有涉嫌侵权的行为？
工业和信息化部高度重视和充分尊重软件知识产权。在绿色上网过滤软件谈判文件中，明确要求供应商应提供具有合法知识产权的软件产品参与投标，在签订合同时也明确要求其应具有合法知识产权。供应商做出了公开声明和郑重承诺。今后如有知识产权纠纷问题，将依照相关法律处理。
七、有些厂商提出，绿色上网过滤软件预装起始日期是７月１日，时间仓促，准备不足。这个时间表是否可以推迟？
我部于２００９年３月初召集了主要厂商就计算机过滤软件预装工作进行了交流，得到了众多计算机厂商的支持，在沟通的基础上确定了预装起始日期。近来，一些企业提出工作量大、时间仓促、准备不足。根据实际情况，可以推迟预装。本着坚持方向、分步实施的原则，７月１日后继续提供网络免费下载，继续在用于中小学校、网吧等公共场所的计算机上安装过滤软件，鼓励已装过滤软件的计算机厂商积极开拓市场。其他计算机如何预装，工业和信息化部将进一步征求各方意见，完善方案，改进方法，做好相关工作。
营造绿色健康网络环境，保护我国未成年人健康成长是一项艰巨的长期的任务，需要全社会给予更多的关心和支持。欢迎社会各界多提建设性意见，并对我们的工作给予支持帮助和批评监督。
BEIJING (Reuters) - A software filter mandated by the Chinese government leaves users vulnerable to malicious sites that might steal personal data or install code on the personal computer, researchers at the University of Michigan found.
China has mandated that the "Green Dam" software be preinstalled on all new computers made or shipped by July 1, saying that the move will protect children against pornography.
Many schools have already installed it. U.S. industry associations representing computer manufacturers have asked China to reconsider the requirement, based on concerns ranging from cyber-security and performance of the software to Internet freedoms.
Web sites can exploit vulnerabilities in the software to take control of the computer, according to a report by Scott Wolchok, Randy Yao and J Alex Halderman of the University of Michigan.
"This could allow malicious sites to steal private data, send spam, or enlist the computer in a botnet," said the report (www.cse.umich.edu/~jhalderm/pub/gd/).
"In addition, we found vulnerabilities in the way Green Dam processes blacklist updates that could allow the software makers or others to install malicious code during the update process."
Green Dam filters words and images, as well as web addresses.
Once installed, the program automatically closes Microsoft browser Internet Explorer if the user tries to access a blacklisted site, including those belonging to banned spiritual group Falun Gong, according to a user who is testing it.
Meanwhile, Chinese education departments are pressing ahead with installing the program, state media said.
About 4 million computers at all the 1,500-some primary and secondary schools in Shanghai will be equipped with Green Dam by the end of this month in order to block access to pornographic and vulgar software, the Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
About 48 percent of teenagers have visited porn Websites, Xinhua said, citing a survey released by the Chinese Youth Research Centre last month.
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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路透：中国国内电脑市场——绿坝的真正阻碍
(2009-06-30)中国最新推出的网络管制措施遭到了人权活动家和美国的质疑，但“绿坝”软件面临的真正困难可能来自于中国国内的电脑市场。
政府要求周三起所有电脑必须预装过滤软件“绿坝”，这一命令看起来很容易执行，但在中关村走一遭你就会发现，那里有很多卖电脑、软件——还有黄色光盘的人，这一计划的落实还面临很多困难。
关于绿坝，这里很多卖电脑软件的零售商要麽是不清楚它为何物，要麽就是觉得没什麽大不了。
在海龙大厦，一个卖戴尔笔记本电脑的20多岁的女子吴葆宝（音）反问到：“绿坝是什麽？”
“7月1号以後你要买电脑的话就会有这麽一个软件，” 她问完旁边店铺的销售人员後说到，“但别担心……我们可以很轻松地把它给卸下来。”
多年来跨国集团一直对中国政府打击盗版软件不力感到不满，但现在看来，这个缺乏监管的市场也有可能让政府头疼，绿坝最终的命运可能是被扫入垃圾箱，或者被束之高阁。
“绿坝计划严重破坏了市场规则。政府不应该强制推行某种品牌的软件，” 人民大学公共政策领域的教授毛寿龙在中关村路边说到，“但实际上的影响很有限。人们可以自愿选择，而且市场细分到如此程度，你也没法轻松控制住它。大公司 会遵守命令，但谁能指挥得动数千家小公司呢？”
中国“矽谷”
毗邻北京多家大学的中关村号称是中国的“矽谷”，微软、谷歌等众多IT巨头都在这里设有实验室或办公室。
中关村电子产品贸易商会告诉路透，这里有3,147家注册在案的电子产品零售商，去年个人电脑销量达240万部。但这还不包括很多没有注册的店铺。
现在这里比几年前干净多了，卖盗版软件的人也不那麽明目张胆了，但肯定还是有。
在中关村路边，你会看到一些抱小孩的、仪容不整的女子，装作若无其事地经过你的身边，飞快地在你耳边小声问你要不要盘。抱小孩是为了避免警察搜身。
跟着一个女人快速穿过堆满砖头的肮脏的小巷，成堆的色情光盘便会出现在你面前。
矽谷电脑城的销售人员杨福英（音）说，生意太不好做了，都来不及多想政府的绿坝计划。
“年中通常是淡季，经济危机一来就更糟糕了，” 他说，“我们会告诉顾客软件的事，但我觉得没什麽影响。你可以要麽卸了它要麽扔了它，那又能怎麽样呢？”
来源：路透社
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