Beijing - China has backed down from its Wednesday deadline for computer makers to pre-install controversial internet filtering software, following a backlash from inside and outside the country. The delay in installing the Green Dam Youth Escort firewall is to allow computer manufacturers more time to comply with the new requirement, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.
The ministry said it will continue to provide free downloads of Green Dam and install it on more computers at schools and internet cafes.
It said it would continue to "solicit opinions to perfect the pre- installation plan" and defended the software as "safe, legal and trustworthy."
The pre-installation of Green Dam is "not compulsory" since the software can easily be disabled or uninstalled by computer users, the ministry said.
The delay follows an outcry among China's estimated 300 million internet users and reports that security holes in the system could allow remote monitoring and control of users' computers, and the theft of personal information.
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in China welcomed the delay as a "positive step forward."
"We believe that this is a positive development, which is consistent with international best practices and is good for Chinese consumers, the government and the business community," AmCham said in a statement.
Lu Benfu, the director of the Internet Development Research Centre under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the delay was "not a surprise."
"Web users in China have been calling for it all along," the China Daily newspaper quoted Lu as saying.
Lu said he saw three possible reasons behind the decision to delay introduction of the software: the need to resolve technical problems, lack of transparency in the bidding process for the software development, and the concerns of Internet users over privacy and legal rights.
The European Chamber of Commerce in China on Tuesday also said the use of Green Dam "poses significant questions in relation to security, privacy, system reliability, the free flow of information and user choice."
"China is putting companies in an untenable position by requiring them, with virtually no public notice, to pre-install software that appears to have broad-based censorship implications and network security issues," US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement last week.
Hackers have attacked the website of the Chinese maker of the software, Jinhui Computer System Engineering, whose staff have also received death threats, according to Chinese state media reports.
The government said Green Dam is needed to filter out pornographic content, but it is apparently also designed to consolidate existing blocks on politically sensitive websites.
Earlier reports said that officials had already installed the software on some 2.6 million computers in schools by mid-June.
More than 80 per cent of Internet users who responded to online surveys by the popular sina.com website said they would not use the software or would uninstall it from their computers.
