Green Dam-tan’s Popularity Soars

chinese_green_dam_girl_22.jpg

China’s “Green Dam” censorship software has been released, providing a key element of the government’s draconian censorship policies. The software will be a pre-installed program shipping on all new computers sold in the mainland, with the express purpose of filtering pornography and other “harmful” material, particularly that injurious to the state.

However, Chinese otaku have already begun to prove their mettle by moeifying the software, creating a twin-tailed moe “image” character for the software named 緑bar娘, but more commonly known in English as Green Dam Girl.

In case a short introduction is needed, the “Green Dam Youth Escort” program is a filtering program designed to block pornographic and violent websites (along with “politically harmful” material) and is scheduled to become a mandatory pre-install on all new computers being sold in mainland China.

The Chinese government was not originally clear on whether or not the program would legally be required to be run on all new computers, but the widespread protests against it have at least forced a clarification by a government official that the program will “not be compulsory.”

It still unclear on if removal of the software by end-users would be illegal or not, but the security vulnerabilities posed by having such a blocking software installed on millions of Chinese computers is indeed troubling, as the program reportedly contains several flaws that might put users at risk to hackers, or could even pave the way for for a government controlled botnet in the future.

The software also stays true to established Chinese tradition, by reportedly including pirated code from a U.S. software manufacturer.

As if to cap this farcical structure, the software apparently escaped inclusion on 64bit operating systems due to programming constraints, though this is presumably a temporary omission.

As might be expected from developers whose selection probably owes more to guanxi than to merit, its filtering abilities are also said to be questionable.

Chinese otaku have scornfully responded, creating a wealth of art based on the optimistic notion that the software is well represented by a bishoujo character, albeit one bearing subtle elements of protest, going by the name of 緑bar娘 (Green “bar” Girl):

chinese_green_dam_girl_01.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_02.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_03.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_04.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_05.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_07.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_08.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_09.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_10.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_11.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_12.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_13.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_14.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_15.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_16.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_17.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_18.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_19.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_20.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_21.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_23.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_24.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_25.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_26.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_27.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_28.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_29.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_30.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_31.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_32.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_33.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_34.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_35.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_36.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_37.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_38.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_39.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_40.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_41.jpg

chinese_green_dam_girl_42.jpeg

chinese_green_dam_girl_43.jpg

Her chained alpaca companion is something of a mystery…



Popular

Recent News

Recent Galleries

Recent Comments