Intel just gladly agreed to implement a new wireless standard created by an Israeli company and wanted by the Israeli government. Yet they have determined "it's not technologically possible" to implement WAPI for China, wink, wink. Of course this is ridiculous. In reality Intel is very concerned about theft of Intellectual Property - for very good reasons.
Ideological hacks like Grace Zaccardi claim this is because WAPI is a government standard, while the Israeli standard is ... oops, back to the lie factory.
What is the connection between WAPI and IP theft?
infoworld.com
Equipment vendors that want to sell WLAN gear in China are required to offer products based on the Chinese standard.
To conform to this standard, foreign equipment vendors must license WAPI through a manufacturing agreement with one of 11 Chinese companies designated by the Chinese government, including Legend Group Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., according to Anne Stevenson-Yang, managing director of the U.S. Information Technology Office (USITO) in Beijing.
The Chinese companies -- many of which compete against foreign equipment vendors -- are not under any obligation to license WAPI to foreign companies, who could find themselves locked out of China's WLAN market if they cannot reach an agreement with a local partner, Stevenson-Yang said.
"It's very threatening to foreign vendors," she said.
In addition to market access, the licensing move raises other issues. Chinese companies that license WAPI may demand detailed access to foreign companies' products and technologies, raising concerns about the protection of intellectual property rights, Stevenson-Yang said.
This is the entire reason for WAPI. It provides a reason why companies like Intel need to share their IP with Chinese companies. The Chinese likely reasoned this wouldn't be a problem. After all, every idiotic American company doing business with the Chinese so far has eagerly provided all of their IP secrets.
Companies from other nations have uniformly refused to provide access to their IP, which is why American companies have been so successful in winning Chinese contracts. American executives know the most important aspect of business is meeting the sales goals for their next salary bonus - even if that means giving away their company's future to a Chinese competitor.
Unfortunately, Intel isn't like most American companies. Intel thinks strategically and they said no. |
