Report Says China Will Demand Source Code

An anonymous reader alerts us to a two-week-old story that hasn't gotten much traction in the press to date. A Japanese newspaper and the AP report that China plans to demand source code from hardware manufacturers, and ban the sale of products from companies that don't comply. China is calling this an "obligatory accreditation system for IT security products." The plan is to go into effect next May, according to sources. "Products expected to be subject to the system are those equipped with secret coding, such as [a] contactless smart card system developed by Sony Corp., digital copiers, and computer servers. The Chinese government said it needs the source code to prevent computer viruses taking advantage of software vulnerabilities and to shut out hackers. However, this explanation is unlikely to satisfy concerns that disclosed information might be handed from the Chinese government to Chinese companies. There also are fears that Chinese intelligence services could exploit such confidential information by making it easier to break codes used in... digital devices."

Comments

Fuck China

[Anonymous Coward]

Bunch of idiots. Boycott chinese products and don't export anything to China. While you are at it pull the plug on Internet access.

Re:So they can counterfeit

[ShieldW0lf]

You guys are missing the point: Demanding that the source code be made available for your products is a reasonable thing to do. Just like demanding that the ingredients of your foodstuffs be made available is a reasonable thing to do. It has to do with safety and trust.

You guys are so caught up in fighting for your right to maintain the ignorance of third parties for your own competitive advantage, you're missing the point. This is a reasonable thing to do, and we should be doing it everywhere in the world.

If you don't like it, you can always stop sucking on the communist teat and die waving your flag and trumpeting how great Capitalism is. It's not like they aren't providing you everything as though you were little children who can't take care of yourself already.