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<html newsdate="2019-05-20">
<head>
  <title>Three conclusions to draw from Google denying Huawei access to software</title>
  <meta name="image" content="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/pmpc/201902-pmpc-security-blackbox.jpg" />
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<h1>
  Three conclusions to draw from Google denying Huawei access to software
</h1>

<p newsteaser="yes">Google denies the Chinese IT giant Huawei access to 
Google's proprietary components of the Android mobile operating system 
which threatens IT security. This highlights the importance Free 
Software has for technology users, public bodies, and businesses. The 
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) presents three essential lessons 
from this case.</p>

<p>Following the U.S. administration's decision to effectively ban 
American companies from trading with with the Chinese company Huawei, 
Google suspended all business with the company. This affects all 
software which is not covered under Free Software licences. In 
practice, Huawei's upcoming and potentially also current phones will no 
longer get support and updates for the Android operating system. They 
will also not have access to the proprietary Google apps and services 
like Gmail and Google Play. Although proprietary software should be 
avoided in the first place, especially the latter will put future 
Huawei users at risk because without access to the default app store on 
most stock Android phones they will miss important security updates for 
the apps installed through it.</p>

<p>Google offers only a base version of Android under a Free Software 
licence but bundles it together with proprietary apps and services. The 
non-free components of most stock Android devices have numerous 
downsides for users, as the <a href="https://freeyourandroid.org">FSFE 
has documented since 2012</a>. Now, the current case demonstrates that 
even tech giants like Huawei face similar dependencies and vendor 
lock-in effects as those of any individual users if they rely on proprietary 
software.</p>

<h2>Three Conclusions</h2>

<p>The following lessons can be drawn from this case:</p>

<ol>
  <li>The FSFE urges <strong>users</strong> to use Free Software 
  operating systems and applications on their computing devices. With 
  proprietary software, they are on the receiving end only and vendors 
  may deny them access to crucial security updates if the vendor or a 
  government changes its strategy. Free Software enables control of 
  technology, and the more important that technology becomes in our 
  daily lives, the more relevant Free Software becomes for users. For 
  Android, the FSFE helps users to regain more control with its <a 
  href="https://freeyourandroid.org">Free Your Android 
  initiative</a>.</li>
  <br />
  <li><strong>Governments and especially the European Union</strong> 
  should invest more resources in Free Software to gain independence 
  from large enterprises and other states. The current case highlights 
  the lack of influence the EU has on outside technology providers. 
  Instead of waiting for a future European IT monopolist to enter the 
  stage, the EU and its members states should <a 
  href="https://publiccode.eu">invest in Free Software development</a> 
  and focus on supporting local Free Software organisations as well as 
  businesses. This would effectively foster the inner-European market 
  and enable independence for European citizens and the EU economy. 
  This step is essential for avoiding exposing European infrastructure 
  to shutdowns controlled by external factors.</li>
  <br />
  <li>The FSFE urges <strong>companies</strong> to use as much Free 
  Software as possible in their supply chains. Proprietary software 
  makes a company dependent on its vendor and that vendor's government. 
  The current case shows that the US was able to force Google to stop 
  delivery of its proprietary products – but could not stop delivery of 
  the Free Software components of Android. Had Huawei invested more 
  resources in Free Software apps and services, the US strategy would 
  not have hit them as hard. Although the current events are linked to 
  the scrutiny the Chinese company is under right now, it is obvious 
  that this could happen to any other company based in any other 
  country as well.</li>
</ol>

<p>The earlier allegations against Huawei already showed that <a 
href="/news/2019/news-20190205-01.html">code for all critical 
infrastructure should be published under a Free Software licence</a>. 
The latest episode of the Huawei affair illustrates that the same 
applies to apps and services. Just days before the European Elections, 
this should be a wake-up call for the next constituent Parliament to 
ask the European Commission for European directives that foster 
independence of European technical infrastructure and that build on 
Free Software, starting with the <a href="https://publiccode.eu">demand 
to release publicly funded software as public code</a>.</p>

</body>
  
 <tags>
  <tag>front-page</tag>
  <tag content="IT Security">security</tag>
  <tag content="Public Code">pmpc</tag>
  <tag content="Huawei">huawei</tag>
  <tag content="Free Your Androud">fya</tag>
 </tags>

<discussion href="https://community.fsfe.org/t/three-conclusions-to-draw-from-google-denying-huawei-access-to-software/278" />

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