Chinese IT Ministry Looks Askance At Google's Control of Android 118
itwbennett writes "In what one expert is calling a clear message to China's tech industry that the authorities want to support a homegrown mobile operating system, China's tech regulator warns in a white paper that the country is becoming too dependent on Google's Android OS. 'Our country's mobile operating system research and development is heavily reliant on Android,' reads the white paper from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 'Although the Android system currently remains open source, the core technologies and technology roadmap is strictly controlled by Google.'"
Corporations are much harder than dissidents. (Score:2, Insightful)
A bullet to the base of the skull won't do it.
Most likely, China just wants control of the OS used on phones within its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Re:Poor PRC commies (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd rather avoid either - but if I had the choice, I'd take the "Zionist" over government.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Fork it (Score:4, Insightful)
Or even better - PARTICIPATE. The Android Open Source project is there for a reason.
Manufacturers who want to guide the direction Android goes technologically will work with Google - for example, Sony is a heavy contributor to AOSP. The results of this show with their newer devices, which are far more well integrated than older ones. It's a win-win situation for Sony, Google, and users in general.
But Chinese manufacturers just want to steal and not do any work. Seriously, they have stealing refined to such an art that IF YOU GIVE IT TO THEM FOR FREE THEY STILL MANAGE TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO STEAL IT! (Note that nearly every Chinese handset is in noncompliance with the GPL under which the kernel is licensed. Not just halfassed pseudo-compliance like HTC and Samsung with source code that obviously doesn't match what shipped, but full on complete noncompliance with zero kernel source whatsoever.)