Mandatory censorware comes to Chinese PCs on Jul 1

As of July 1, PCs sold in China will come with mandatory on-disk censorware that will prevent users from looking at web-pages that displease the party. How much do you want to bet that this is proposed (in the name of protecting children) in at least one western country within 12 months? I'm guessing Australia — they've got some techno-ignorant parliamentarians down who're so eager to censor the Internet it'd curl your hair.

The government, which has told global PC makers of the requirement but has yet to announce it to the public, says the effort is aimed at protecting young people from "harmful" content. The primary target is pornography, says the main developer of the software, a company that has ties to China's security ministry and military.

China Squeezes PC Makers

(Thanks, Patrick!)