The Associated Press wrote in a recent article that owners of Internet cafés in the southern Chinese city of Nanchang are required by authorities to switch to Red Flag Linux, even if they were using valid copies of Windows.

The measure taken by the Chinese government can't be good p.r. for Linux. First of all, Red Flag is selling its product to the cafés at a steep price. Secondly, it begs the question whether this deal is merely a scheme to fill Red Flag's coffers or the Chinese authorities built a surveillance back door into the product.

The third possibility is that the Chinese government, by putting increased financial pressure on the Internet cafés, is encouraging them to make their shops more airtight. Because blogging and Internet activism is a heinous crime by Chinese government standards, promoting a homegrown product would disrupt any regime-critical communication.

As to the possible surveillance question, café owners could answer it by applying the proper software. Meanwhile, Beijing-based Red Flag claims through its spokesman Fan Hongguan that its product is best suited for the high traffic in the cafés and because of its effectiveness against viruses.