Will Dell & HP help China censor the Dalai Lama?

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Will Dell & HP help China censor the Dalai Lama?

Will U.S. companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard help China to censor its citizens access to the internet?

There are over 300 million internet users in China, and the government is already active in restricting their access to sites that mention the Dalai Lama or the brutal attacks in Tiananmen Square.

Now, as the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen approaches, the Chinese government has announced - completely without warning - that after July 1, all PCs sold in China will have to include "Green Dam" software that will allow the government to prevent users from accessing any sites the government deems "unclean," including everything from political dissidence to pornography.

China has also sought to ban internet services like Twitter and Flickr with its so-called "Great Firewall." So far, these efforts have largely failed, but internet safety experts fear that the "Green Dam" software could serve as a Trojan Horse to give the Chinese government far greater power to censor the internet.

So who will carry out the thwarting of the Chinese people's right to information? American manufacturers like Dell and HP. According to the New York Times, the companies are hesitant to work against free speech, but even more afraid of losing their business in China.

But American business giants have the power to fight back. All they have to do is use it.

Sign this petition today to tell Dell CEO Michael Dell and HP CEO Mark Hurd to negotiate with the Chinese government to get rid of this insidious rule. All people deserve the right to access information, whether or not it's government approved.

Original URL

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/chinese_internet/?r=3848&id=4431-473056-eUgdiTx

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/chinese_internet/?r=3848&id=4431-473056-eUgdiTx