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How far would this extend to? For example Tencent owns League of Legends, a widely used video game in the US (or even, globally) with a communication tool? Wha

How far would this extend to? For example Tencent owns League of Legends, a widely used video game in the US (or even, globally) with a communication tool? What if WeChat just suddenly gets popular in the US? What should the US do in that situation?

komali2 9y ago
WeChat is enormously popular in the US. Every Chinese person here uses it. That means a huge number of US students and employees. I think the US should pass and aggressively enforce anti-snooping laws. No company allowed to monitor communication of customers over whatever platform that company is selling (unless the product requires it or that IS the service - some sort of Mood Analysis API or whatever). Would also conveniently take care of a key net neutrality point :)
- mi_lk 9y ago
  As popular as Chinese community in the US. I still don't know of anyone who doesn't speak Chinese use WeChat.
  - komali2 9y ago
    But that's still a lot of Americans, regardless of the language they speak.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  My wife uses it also, just no one outside of the Chinese sphere of influence does. It also has no functions outside of china beyond chat, you can’t even use it to buy things at merchants who accept it (mostly spots where Chinese tourists go) unless it’s connected to a chinese bank account (so not for daily usage).
- dionian 9y ago
  yeah, part of the reason is so popular its one of the few platforms not banned in PR China because the state maintains full control over censorship...
Canada 9y ago
That is a great point, a lot of communication happens over games, they do have a sort of social graph as well. WeChat will not suddenly get popular in the US because it sucks. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have survived in China without the firewall. But assuming it did, I think the correct response is to require it to have end to end encryption.
- Chaebixi 9y ago
  > WeChat will not suddenly get popular in the US because it sucks. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have survived in China without the firewall. But assuming it did, I think the correct response is to require it to have end to end encryption. Claims of end to end encryption are pretty worthless if you don't trust the provider and haven't audited their source code.
Chaebixi 9y ago
> What if WeChat just suddenly gets popular in the US? What should the US do in that situation? Block it (or heavily regulate it), pending a reciprocal opening of their market. The whole "be open, lead by example, and they'll do the same" hasn't worked with China very well.
- SurrealSoul 9y ago
  Should we block LoL now then, or are it's communication tool(s) different for whatever reason?
  - Chaebixi 9y ago
    > Should we block LoL now then, or are it's communication tool(s) different for whatever reason? Blocking LoL is fine by me. China's blocked Google.
    - SurrealSoul 9y ago
      China doesn't block DotA2 (made by valve, an American company, and direct competitor to LoL), Steam, CS:GO, Android, Apple, ApplePay and ect... They do block Google and Facebook. By censoring an entire country following that logic the internet as we know it would be a country-by-country intranet. Best case would be a game of "ACCEPT OUR SERVICES OR ELSE"

komali2 9y ago

WeChat is enormously popular in the US. Every Chinese person here uses it. That means a huge number of US students and employees. I think the US should pass and aggressively enforce anti-snooping laws. No company allowed to monitor communication of customers over whatever platform that company is selling (unless the product requires it or that IS the service - some sort of Mood Analysis API or whatever). Would also conveniently take care of a key net neutrality point :)

mi_lk 9y ago
As popular as Chinese community in the US. I still don't know of anyone who doesn't speak Chinese use WeChat.
- komali2 9y ago
  But that's still a lot of Americans, regardless of the language they speak.
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
My wife uses it also, just no one outside of the Chinese sphere of influence does. It also has no functions outside of china beyond chat, you can’t even use it to buy things at merchants who accept it (mostly spots where Chinese tourists go) unless it’s connected to a chinese bank account (so not for daily usage).
dionian 9y ago
yeah, part of the reason is so popular its one of the few platforms not banned in PR China because the state maintains full control over censorship...

Canada 9y ago

That is a great point, a lot of communication happens over games, they do have a sort of social graph as well. WeChat will not suddenly get popular in the US because it sucks. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have survived in China without the firewall. But assuming it did, I think the correct response is to require it to have end to end encryption.

Chaebixi 9y ago
> WeChat will not suddenly get popular in the US because it sucks. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have survived in China without the firewall. But assuming it did, I think the correct response is to require it to have end to end encryption. Claims of end to end encryption are pretty worthless if you don't trust the provider and haven't audited their source code.

Chaebixi 9y ago

> What if WeChat just suddenly gets popular in the US? What should the US do in that situation? Block it (or heavily regulate it), pending a reciprocal opening of their market. The whole "be open, lead by example, and they'll do the same" hasn't worked with China very well.

SurrealSoul 9y ago
Should we block LoL now then, or are it's communication tool(s) different for whatever reason?
- Chaebixi 9y ago
  > Should we block LoL now then, or are it's communication tool(s) different for whatever reason? Blocking LoL is fine by me. China's blocked Google.
  - SurrealSoul 9y ago
    China doesn't block DotA2 (made by valve, an American company, and direct competitor to LoL), Steam, CS:GO, Android, Apple, ApplePay and ect... They do block Google and Facebook. By censoring an entire country following that logic the internet as we know it would be a country-by-country intranet. Best case would be a game of "ACCEPT OUR SERVICES OR ELSE"