Beijing, June 16 Customers purchasing computers in China will have the option of buying or not buying government-sponsored porn-filtering software, an official has said.

The China Daily quoted the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)official as saying: "PC makers are only required to save the setup files of the program in the hard drives of the computers, or provide CD-ROMs containing the program with their PC packages."

The users have the final say on the installation of the Green Dam-Youth Escort, so it is misleading to say the government compels PC users to use the software, the official clarified.

"The government's role is limited to having the software developed and providing it free," the official said.

The filter has to be included on all computers sold on the mainland from July 1 - and the reason is purely to protect youngsters from Internet pornography and violence, according to the government. (ANI)