Several weeks ago, I came across an article in the Economist that briefly described some unrest and concern among members of the busines community. They were basically concerned that China was sponsoring the development of a new kind of programming language based off its characters rather than the traditional xhtml or javascripting. Now, why is this worrisome? Well, internet browsers from Los Angeles to New York, to Paris, to Chinai, to Tokyo all translate the terms <> and < / em > (without the spaces) as meaning "I must italicize the word/s falling in between the two commands". If China successfully both develops and implements this new language, their computers will be using something that the rest of the world won't be able to use, at least until they offer to teach it to us.
Again, why do we care? Because Chinese nationals and more importantly, Chinese businesses will likely once again become incommunicado. The government will have stricter control over what can and can not come into the country, even over the internet, which as their recent battle with Google indicates, is already a concern in China. It would also represent a loss to the business community because they would no longer be able to sell software products to China, which despite IPR problems, does still generate revenue. China would essentially become even less dependent on imports than it already is, which has real consequences for the American capital account defecit, raising the question, "If China no longer has to buy what we're selling, what are we going to do?"
How likely are they going to be able to implement this new language? No one knows. Other initiatives have existed elsewhere, particularly in France, but most of those fell through due in no small part to the need for their computers to talk to American computers to have access to that market. Hence, no one really took them seriously. China, however, is a horse of a different color in that sense because it's got a stronger hold on the American markets. We will buy their cheap goods and try to sell them ours, so long as we can make a profit. Plus, China has stricter control over its citizenry than other individuals from other places, so the possibility that China will develop its own internet is all the more real. However, no one really knows what's going on over there on this issue, but it's still an interesting question.
2 comments:
I do agree, and I certainly don't see any real reason for them to shift to the ATM. Too many people rely on standard TCP/IP protocols.
However, I don't know that it's necessarily new html. The article in the Economist was unfortunately not very specific, but it was very concerned about the business implications.
I do agree that this is yet anohter way they're using the internet to control their own populace's access to information, but I do think there could be business ramifications. If you can't read Chinese websites, you might have less access to information you, as a business owner, might need to interact with your Chinese counterpart. More and more business is conducted in datastreams, and I'm not all that comfortable with a nation controlling its datastream.
Finally, I'm also relatively certain that the Chinese government would LIKE strong control over who does business with "foreigners" and who does not, again to control the populace.
As for the ability of ICANN to blackmail...I'm not so convinced, frankly.
However, it's an interesting tidbit of information.
If I were U.S. business men I would not be too worried about the chinese protocol. If they are foolish enough to try and develop an alternate platform that no one else in the world uses, then they only damage their own business interests. Its the equivalent of making all business people wear pink hats when conducting business. It creates a barrier to business activity and will limit their economic capability. If they do not want to trade with us anymore, fine, we'll do more business with India.
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