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'Green Dam' developer forced to close
By Wang Xiang |
July 13, 2010, Tuesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
THE company that developed Internet filter "Green Dam" was forced to shut its Beijing office for lack of funds despite the Chinese government investing more than 41 million yuan (US$6.04 million) in the software a year ago.
Over 30 workers at the company's Beijing office have all been laid off. The company's Zhengzhou base is also stumbling because the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stopped paying the company any more money, Beijing Times reported today.
The software, named "Green Dam Youth Escort," was designed to block porn and unhealthy information and was developed by Zhengzhou Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co.
The software sparked controversy when the ministry announced a mandatory pre-installation on new computers. The pre-installation was delayed after waves of protests, but still over 20 million users, mostly from public schools or Internet cafes, downloaded the software.
If the company shuts, these users will lose technical support, the report said.
Chen Xiaomeng, a manager of the project, said the government only paid them 41.7 million yuan for one year's operation in 2008. The company has been barely surviving since 2009.
"We moved to a cheaper office building to squeeze every cent we can, but our workers were still leaving," Chen said.
Chen said the project's Beijing office alone, which was charged with promotion and marketing, need at least 7 million yuan every year to function. The Zhenzhou base in charge of custom service and software updates cost more.
The company wrote to relevant departments for more funding but the requests were never answered, the report said.
Over 30 workers at the company's Beijing office have all been laid off. The company's Zhengzhou base is also stumbling because the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stopped paying the company any more money, Beijing Times reported today.
The software, named "Green Dam Youth Escort," was designed to block porn and unhealthy information and was developed by Zhengzhou Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co.
The software sparked controversy when the ministry announced a mandatory pre-installation on new computers. The pre-installation was delayed after waves of protests, but still over 20 million users, mostly from public schools or Internet cafes, downloaded the software.
If the company shuts, these users will lose technical support, the report said.
Chen Xiaomeng, a manager of the project, said the government only paid them 41.7 million yuan for one year's operation in 2008. The company has been barely surviving since 2009.
"We moved to a cheaper office building to squeeze every cent we can, but our workers were still leaving," Chen said.
Chen said the project's Beijing office alone, which was charged with promotion and marketing, need at least 7 million yuan every year to function. The Zhenzhou base in charge of custom service and software updates cost more.
The company wrote to relevant departments for more funding but the requests were never answered, the report said.
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