Sometimes you have to let people simply say, “I told you so…” The announcement yesterday that the government would be “delaying” its ruling requiring all computers sold in China after July 1 to have the allegedly anti-porn software pre-installed is just such an occassion. The gentlemen at the China law blog did indeed write an excellent post way back when this whole issue surfaced stating their belief that there was no way the ruling would be enforced. Here’s the money graf by blogger Dan Harris about why he doesn’t write about new laws:
1. There are so many laws already on the books and being enforced that need coverage more. Laws on the books will impact you right now. Proposed laws may or may not ever come into being.
2. China has a very real habit of saying it will institute a new law and then never doing so. It floats new laws to gauge reaction. If the reaction is negative, the law oftentimes never comes into being.
3. China has a very real habit of instituting new laws and then never enforcing them. This often happens when the new law is negatively received.