PC makers aren't going to be compelled to put that Green Dam Internet filtering software on their boxes in order to sell them in China, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper quoted industry minister Li Yizhong as saying in a turnabout Thursday that the program was always intended to be optional but the regulation was unclear when released in May by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Supposedly users were meant to install it themselves if they wanted.

The plan was delayed indefinitely in June after a public outcry from human rights activists over censorship and government intervention although Lenovo, Acer, and Asustek bent to the rule. The Green Dam software itself was said to be defective and poached in part from an American program.

China intends to keep installing the stuff on computers in schools and Internet cafes to protect minors from pornography.