China Files Case Against Intel's Wireless Network

Krishna Dagli writes "China has launched a case against American chipmaker Intel's near-monopoly on encryption standards for wireless local area network (WLAN) equipment, state press reported Monday."

Re:china? whaa?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

since when does china care about patent law?

Nothing to do with patent law.

Short version. IEEE submitted 80211i, China submitted WAPI to ISO to be international wireless encryption standards. IEEE won, WAPI lost. China is complaining that IEEE did something bad during the lead up to the voting process. No news sources are reporting what that something was as far as I can see.

So we have nebulous claims of interference in the ISO process. No more, no less.

(I'm not sure whether I dislike/distrust Intel or China more)

Re:Will cause trouble in DC.

[eraser.cpp]

Colin Powell spoke with Chinese trade officials a while back and got them to halt a program that would have required WiFi equipment being sold in China to support WAPI. The program also would have required foreign companies to partner with a Chinese firm before entering the market.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/04/05/HNbarret tochina_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld .com/article/04/04/05/HNbarrettochina_1.html [infoworld.com]

FTA: "The U.S. government has also weighed in on the issue. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, sent a letter to senior Chinese government officials in March expressing concern over the implementation of China's WLAN standard and that the move created a dangerous precedent for using standards as a barrier to international trade."

can't trust wireless encryption anyway

[penguin-collective]

It doesn't really matter what wireless encryption standards one uses, you can't trust them anyway. First of all, the companies involved have already demonstrated their incompetence with WEP. Second, I think at this point you have to assume that any encryption that's encoded in a chip has a backdoor in it and that a significant number of people will know about it.

If you want secure wireless communications, you have to use software encryption implemented in open source software.

Re:They don't like real crypto.

[Darkman, Walkin Dude]

Face matters in Chinese culture, a lot,

Nah you're thinking about Japan. Face doesn't matter a damn to the Chinese, they left that behind along with the bowing after the "popular revolution", too like the older imperialistic ways (I know whereof I speak, I learned most of my Mandarin in China). Whats happening here is that China has been believing its own propaganda too much, and honestly believed the rest of the world would bend over because of the innate superiority of their offering and the fact that China is the centre of the world. Lollers. Now the harsh reality is catching up, they are throwing a tantrum.

Its really quite entertaining to watch the heavy handed buffoons they have in charge over there try to maneuver on the world stage; less bull in china shop than one legged man in a three legged race. Apologies to those whose sensibilites are offended by these facts, having been raised on the mysterious ways of the orient served up with a big dollop of hollywood fat, but there you have it.

Re:NAFTA?

[dryeo]

While everything you say is true, NAFTA has still been more advantageous for America. Just look at the softwood lumber dispute (http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/HET/Softwood/). Basiclly America stole $5billion through illegal tarifs on lumber and even with losing court case after court case refused to be honourable. They have finally decide to give back a couple of billion but it still leaves a bad taste about America and how they honour treaties.
Also there are very few large Canadian firms anymore as they all have been bought out by American firms.
What I really laugh at are the poor Australians who even after seeing how America keeps its word went and signed a free trade agreement.