China Herald: Computer security

China´s proposal to IT vendors to give access to their devices to fight terror has raised the tensions in the industry. Apple seems to have agreed to share its source code with China, and that might cause Obama a headache, says business analyst Ben Cavender in Quartz.

Quartz:

Apple’s capitulation to China’s demands weakens Obama’s position, and makes life even more difficult for other US tech companies, analysts say. The US tech industry has been lobbying against the Chinese cyber-security regulations, and US secretary of state John Kerry and other US officials sent a letter of complaint to their Chinese counterparts last month.

“Apple does place the Obama administration in an awkward position, as it is one of the largest tech companies in the world and it seems to be willing to open its doors in return for market access,” Ben Cavender, a Shanghai-based analyst at China Market Research Group, told Quartz. “This could definitely make it harder for the administration to effectively argue that companies will not be willing to concede to demands from the Chinese government.”

None of Apple’s competitors, or the tech industry trade groups lobbying the Chinese government, would comment on the topic on the record. But some executives said privately that Apple has a long tradition of acting independently from the industry when it comes to dealing with foreign governments.

More in Quartz.

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