China to Require Disclosure of Security

The Chinese government is moving forward with plans to require companies operating in China to obtain approval before using any type of security technology. The rules are scheduled to take effect May 1, 2009 and have resulted in pressure from the U.S. government to scrap the requirement.

"Giving [Chinese] regulators the power to reject foreign technologies could help to promote sales of Chinese alternatives. But that might disrupt foreign manufacturing, research or data processing in if companies have to switch technologies or move operations to other countries to avoid the controls. Requiring disclosure of technical details also might help Beijing read encrypted e-mail or create competing products."

China irks US with computer security review rules