China to make foreign firms reveal secret info

The Daily Yomiuri ^ | 9-19-08

[John_Galt_USA]

China to make foreign firms reveal secret info

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Chinese government plans to introduce a new system requiring foreign firms to disclose secret information about digital household appliances and other products starting from May, sources said Thursday.

<SNIP>

If a company refuses to disclose such information, the Chinese government plans to ban the firm from exporting the product to the Chinese market, as well as bar production and sales in the country, according to the sources.

Critics worry that such a system risks seeing the intellectual property of foreign firms passed onto their Chinese competitors.

<SNIP>

However, this explanation is unlikely to satisfy concerns that disclosed information might be handed from the Chinese government to Chinese companies.

<SNIP>

[John_Galt_USA]

This one slipped by me. Just saw it in an email list today.

The new requirements are called an "obligatory accreditation system for IT security products"

A web or news search on that phrase will turn up more articles. Hitachi is considering pulling out of the Chinese market over this new policy.

[GingisK]

I think it is time to dicard our Chinese trading partners.

[Racer1]

Way past time. Commies are commies and will always be that. Why that is so hard for some to understand I’ll never know.

[ikka]

Wonder if this applies to hard drives, which is an area of manufacturing that China has yet to crack (they assemble drives but do not have the technology to make them from scratch I believe) , both on the hardware and the software side.

[ken21]

divide and rule.

we should have spread technology and manufacturing around,

rather than concentrating on the chicoms.

[generally]

The secret info I’d like them to reveal is who is funding them and who is benefitting from them. I’d like them to name names.

[LearsFool]

Sounds like the Chinese are smarter than we are.

[DaveArk]

I guess they don’t want to spend time and money on reverse engineering.

[TXnMA]

Chinese business rule #1:

"No idea is too good to steal!"

[NoLibZone]

Hussein says we need to catch up with China.

The ancient culture can’t even make baby or dog food yet.

[WellyP]

It is WAY past time to sell Chinese related stocks! China’s stock market is already down about 60% this year and can just imagine what this will do. India must be smiling. This is a great chance for them.

[redgolum]

And yet, the wonder kids with MBA’s said China was the next best thing.

Free trade kills.

[KarlInOhio]

Are we going to make symetrical requirements? Will the Chinese have to provide the NSA with the schematics and programs for everything they send in the country at the risk of having it destroyed on the dock if it doesn't match what they say is included?

[mysterio]

as well as bar production and sales in the country

Awesome. We should respond my making it illegal to manufacture anything there for safety and human rights reasons.

[Vaduz]

I think it is time to dicard our Chinese trading partners.
True but they loaned us so much money we can’t discard then yet.

[GingisK]

True but they loaned us so much money we can’t discard then yet.

Sure we can. The Chinese can turn us over to a collection agency and then wait forever.

[John_Galt_USA]

DaveArk wrote:

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I guess they don’t want to spend time and money on reverse engineering.

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That was my first thought as well.

I also find this quote from the original article interesting:

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The Chinese government said it needs the source code to prevent computer viruses taking advantage of software vulnerabilities and to shut out hackers.

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I've often found that people are most fearful of others doing to them things that they have done to others, or are willing to do to others. Makes you wonder if the Chinese have been planting viruses, back doors, or other malicious software in products made there.

[Mountain Troll]

I’ll settle for making them tell us what’s in the milk supply!

[JACKRUSSELL]

A ping list dedicated to exposing the quality, safety and security issues of anything “Made in China”.


Please FReepmail me if you would like to be on or off of the list.

(This can be a high volume ping list.)

[Ellendra]

If they keep pulling stunts like this, they’ll have “discarded” themselves. I can’t think of any reason why a sane business owner would want to hand over secrets to the biggest counterfeiters in the world. How many will pull out of the Chinese markets rather than comply?