Quantum Computing Regulation Already?

RMX writes "A new CNet article discusses the possibility of regulating quantum computing. We already see our top tier US VCs investing in Quantum computing companies outside the country. Apparently the feds seem to think regulating the amount of technology that can be sent overseas will make the US safer." From the article: "Only rough prototypes of quantum computers presently exist. But if a large-scale model can be built, in theory it could break codes used to scramble information on the Internet, in banking, and within federal agencies. A certain class of encryption algorithms relies for security on the near-impossibility of factoring large numbers quickly. But quantum computers, at least on paper, can do that calculation millions of times faster than a conventional microprocessor. "

Comments

Apocalypse Now

[Doc Ruby]

The way that Muslim countries locked themselves into the 13th Century (their 7th Century) was to regulate innovation. Everything had to be "safe" within their (koranic) laws at the time their theocrats controlled the richest, most sophisticated, powerful, extensive empire in the world. Which forced them into impotence as rivals like Europeans copied their basic science (largely developed from a Classical legacy), and roared past them. Forcing them into colonial slavery for centuries - partly by enforcing their own paranoid laws against learning and innovation.

That's exactly what we're doing to ourselves right now in America. Our ChrisTaliban, backed by the Saudi Arabs who control both the oil and Mecca, are locking our own pinnacle into a time warp. Centuries will pass us by, and we'll look exactly as backwards to the rest of the world as the Muslim world largely looks to us now. Humans haven't changed, so the strategy will work again. Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, but of course the players can reverse roles - if only one remembers the lessons.