Green Dam's day not done

Meanwhile, trade organizations believe that their ability to get the Commerce Department involved was key to the victory. Ed Black, president of the Washington-based Computer and Communications Industry Association, told Reuters in a separate report.

"This shows that when U.S. trade officials get involved, they get results," Black said in a statement sent by email.

But before you get too excited about the Green Dam backdown, consider this statement from a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), reported in The China Daily:

"The government will definitely carry on the directive on Green Dam. It's just a matter of time."

Here comes the face-saving. The choice to delay was not because of US trade pressure, or civil liberties complaints, or becuase the software was a gross violator of copyright. No, it was only because "some computer manufacturers needed more time," the paper reported. "What will happen is that some PC manufacturers will have it included with their PC packages sooner than the others," he said. "But there is no definite deadline at the moment."