China will not force the mass installation of the software on PCs, but the software will be installed on computers in schools, Internet cafes and in other public places, the minister added.The industry and information technology minister, Li Yizhong, said today that the notion that the Green Dam programme would be required on every new computer was “a misunderstanding” spawned by poorly written regulations.The government had argued that the software was necessary to clear the Chinese web of “harmful content”. But critics said it was a misguided attempt to put the internet genie back in the bottle by a Communist party that now had to answer to about 300 million web users.China announced earlier this year that it planned compulsory installation of the Green Dam-Youth Escort software, ostensibly meant to protect young online users from pornography.Criticism of the new policy was rampant abroad, at home and even on China’s own state-run media, a sign that officials may disagree about it internally.