Apple has agreed to China's security checks, 1st foreign firm to agree to rules

Bill Gates said that government should not be left blind, that Apple should help the government.  http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-bill-gates-apple-20160223-story.html

response to Gates:

 1)  The government has NSA to consult with on all matters related to encryption, so they hare hardly been left blind unless they blind themselves.  2)  Encryption is mathematical at root, so the issue is not a USA issue anyway.  3)  As to the ongoing and intensifying electronics/IT era and its hurdles to face, the period of ~1945-75 was more appropriately the time to decide which road to take in terms of IT.  IT is now so worldwide that it’s too late by far for FBI or even one government to affect profoundly the IT development path; however if Chinese Communists and East Coast Establishment insiders have covertly teamed up together then certainly a lot of trouble is ahead.      -R.

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2-26-2016         In January 2015, the government mouthpiece, the People's Daily, tweeted a picture of Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook shaking hands with Lu Wei, China's top cyberspace official.

"Apple has agreed to China's security checks, 1st foreign firm to agree to rules of Cyberspace Admin of China," the tweet said.   http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-apple-china-20160226-story.html

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Lu Wei, director of China’s Internet Information Office, shaking hands in a meeting in December last year (Weibo.com/Caijing)

“Apple might hand over its source code to the Chinese government,” said Charlie Smith (a pseudonym), one of the activists of GreatFire.org in an email. Great Fire is a non-profit organization that monitors online censorship in China.   http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1215318-apples-products-to-undergo-security-inspection-by-china/