The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has relaxed restrictions on exporting some encryption technologies to Huawei.
Thursday announcement [PDF] He explains that the decision was made because American businesses were confused about the need for the Biden administration to seek approval before bringing some technology into the standards talks. That confusion “undermined U.S. involvement and leadership in these activities,” the announcement said.
The Biden administration has a policy of ensuring that US entities can achieve administrative and technical leadership level platforms – in response to Huawei’s many contributions to 5G standards. The Chinese giant has seen its efforts to make a head start in manufacturing 5G products.
The US worries that China, through companies like Huawei, is trying to create standards that benefit authoritarian regimes. In the year In 2020, for example, Huawei floated a new IP that would centralize control of its networks. The Chinese government has prioritized contributing to network standards as part of its nationwide IPv6 adoption plan.
China and Huawei argue that network standards are needed to prepare the Internet for future applications. Critics say China’s standards are being developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) rather than the usual standards-setting bodies: the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) or the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
It is widely felt that China is trying to buy a platform for friendship by working through the ITU.
America wants to ensure that it dominates all standards bodies, and that position ensures that the values of liberal democracy and open markets take hold in tech.
That’s why the BIS on Thursday issued guidelines for exporting certain encryption technologies — provided they are used only for standards development activities.
The technology allowed to leave US shores has been described as “low-level,” which could pose a national security or commercial risk.
In related news, the ITU meeting will begin on September 22nd, where Huawei will present a new IP address. The record He looks at processes with interest. ®
