China delays rollout of filtering tool

China has delayed the rollout date for its controversial Green Dam internet filtering tool.

The Chinese Government said that the mandatory inclusion of the filter would be put off to allow PC vendors extra time to prepare for the law which requires all systems sold in the country to be bundled with the software, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had previously set July 1 as the deadline for compliance with the law. No new deadline was given.

The controversial law first garnered attention earlier this month when word surfaced that PC vendors were being forced to include the software either as a pre-installation or bundled offering with all new systems sold in China.

News of the law garnered heated debate and drew criticism from many groups opposed to the measure, including the US Secretary of Commerce.

The Chinese government maintained that the software could be disabled by users and would only block pornographic content. Opponents of the measure argued that the software could be used to further tighten the country's grip on internet access and censorship in China.

A group of Chinese citizens opposed to the law were planning to conduct a one day boycott of the internet in protest of the measure.

Some companies have also expressed concern that possible intellectual property violations in the Green Dam tool could prevent US software vendors from exporting systems with the software installed.