Huawei’s chief executive has proposed selling its current 5G know-how to a Western firm as a way to address security concerns voiced by the US and others about its business.

Ren Zhengfei said the buyer would be free to “change the software code”.

That would allow any flaws or supposed backdoors to be addressed without Huawei’s involvement.

The US and Australia have banned their networks from using Huawei’s equipment. The UK is still weighing a decision.

Huawei has repeatedly denied claims that it would help the Chinese government spy on or disrupt other countries telecoms systems, and says it is a private enterprise owned by its workers.

One expert, who had previously cast doubts on Huawei’s claims to independence, said the idea of it helping another country’s business to compete represented an “extraordinary offer”.

Source: BBC Technology News

Date: September 12, 2019

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49673144

Discussion

1. As the article notes, the U.S. has banned the use of Huawei’s 5G products because of the possibility that the Chinese government will use them for spying on the U.S. The offer from Huawei to sell its 5G technology and critically to allow for changes in the source code is, really, an “extraordinary offer”. Why is this?
2. Does Apple allow changes to be made to the Apple iOS source code? Why not?