Thursday, May 4, 2017

New China Enforcement for Businesses

Well, we knew it was coming, but some companies fought it tooth and nail.  The new cyber security laws in China are formally being enforced starting in June.  It is an amazing intrusion into the proprietary software part of businesses operating there.  The software has to be "secure and controllable" and to prove it, some companies are being required to submit source code.  That part has been going on for some time.  Imagine if the U.S. Government would decide to have every foreign business like SAP or Airbus submit code to NSA for review, then turn over that software to the competitors of those businesses. There are not enough lawyers to cover all the lawsuits that would take place.  But, China seems to be able to get away with it because they allow access to some of China's billion potential customers.

The discussions that ought to be brought to the Boards of companies in China is whether or not the short-term profits that come from those customers are worth giving up the trade secrets in that code.  Apple has certainly had that discussion already over the encryption it does for its customers.  It still does not want to give that up.  I'm not really concerned about the ones who fight and lose business over there.  I worry about the ones that give in and don't say a word.  "It's the law" they say.  Do you really want to mortgage your future on assurances that the code will not be compromised to Chinese industries when China has the history of stealing anything it thinks it needs?

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