June 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. called for talks with China on the Asian nation’s plan to require Web-filtering software on personal computers, saying it is concerned about restrictions on freedom of expression and the possible effect on trade.

“The U.S. is concerned about actions that seek to restrict access to the Internet as well as restrictions on the internationally recognized right to freedom of expression,” the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said in a statement today. “We have asked the Chinese to engage in a dialogue on how to address these concerns,” it said.

The statement follows criticism from industry groups and academics of China’s plan to force PC makers to pre-install software that filters out pornography starting July 1. The “Green Dam-Youth Escort” program also blocks anti-government sites and will impair computer performance by making machines more prone to security breaches, researchers say.

“For the computer manufacturers, implementing a software of this type typically requires months of trials and testing, and on this occasion, there doesn’t seem to be enough time,” said Charles Mok, chairman of the Hong Kong division of Internet Society, an international standard-setting body. “The reputation of companies is at stake here.”

Officials Meet

Officials of the State Department, U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department based at the embassy in Beijing met with Chinese officials to discuss the software dispute, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington.

Kelly said there are commercially available software filters to shield minors from “illicit or inappropriate Internet content.”

The Green Dam software “has broader filtering implications,” Kelly said.

Pamela Bonney, a spokeswoman at Hewlett-Packard Co., and Jess Blackburn, a spokesman at Dell Inc., didn’t immediately reply to e-mails seeking comment. The world’s two biggest PC makers this month said they are reviewing the software requirement.

Security Breaches

The software raises “serious technical issues,” according to the statement, which also cites concerns of a potential “impact on trade.”

Green Dam is a “substandard product” developed by companies with little experience in such software, and makes computers more susceptible to security breaches, according to a June 12 report by OpenNet Initiative. It will increase government control of Internet use in China, said the body, which includes researchers at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and University of Toronto.

A group of 19 business associations in North America and Japan last week sent a letter to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology seeking a review of the agency’s May 19 order to adopt the software.

Liu Lihua, a spokesman for China’s information-technology ministry, declined to comment. Another official, who didn’t give his name, said the ministry will study the embassy statement and determine whether to respond.

Computers loaded with Green Dam are prevented from accessing Web sites about the 1989 Tiananmen Square military crackdown and the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong, Isaac Mao, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, said June 12.

Google Inc., the world’s biggest Internet search engine, is working with the Chinese government to stem pornography and material harmful to children, Scott Rubin, a spokesman for the Mountain View, California-based company, said last week. China asked Google to remove some search links after the U.S. Internet operator was criticized for spreading obscene content, the official Xinhua news agency said on June 19.

For Related News and Information: Top government news: GTOP <GO> Most read stories related to China: MNI CHINA <GO> Stories on the Internet in China: TNI CHINA INTERNET BN <GO> Top technology news: TTOP <GO>

Last Updated: June 22, 2009 16:36 EDT