Zuckerberg's Quest To Re-Enter China Faces Challenge: His Own Words (wsj.com) 13
Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 had a question for those working on Meta Platforms' strategy for its virtual-reality headset: If Apple can sell iPhones in China, and Tesla can sell cars, why can't we sell our devices there? From a report: The question, posed on a video call, led to a push by Meta to restart its China business by selling its Quest headsets in the country, according to a person familiar with the matter, more than a decade after Facebook was blocked there. The company held discussions with several Chinese tech companies and has made progress with videogame powerhouse Tencent, people familiar with the matter said. But the effort faces challenges, in part because Chinese executives worry that Zuckerberg isn't seen as friendly to China, according to people familiar with the matter.
In recent years the Meta founder has accused China of stealing technology and taken aim at ByteDance, the Chinese owner of video-sharing platform TikTok. That has undermined a charm offensive Zuckerberg undertook in Beijing in 2016 and bolstered negative views of the entrepreneur in Beijing, the people said. Officials' perceptions of Zuckerberg could add uncertainty should Meta and its partner seek licenses and approvals for their products and services in China, some of the people said. Meta's refusal to comply with Beijing's censorship rules led to its being blocked in 2009, officials have said. Both Facebook and Twitter were cut off that year after unrest in China's Xinjiang region, with state media saying social media was used to stir riots.
In recent years the Meta founder has accused China of stealing technology and taken aim at ByteDance, the Chinese owner of video-sharing platform TikTok. That has undermined a charm offensive Zuckerberg undertook in Beijing in 2016 and bolstered negative views of the entrepreneur in Beijing, the people said. Officials' perceptions of Zuckerberg could add uncertainty should Meta and its partner seek licenses and approvals for their products and services in China, some of the people said. Meta's refusal to comply with Beijing's censorship rules led to its being blocked in 2009, officials have said. Both Facebook and Twitter were cut off that year after unrest in China's Xinjiang region, with state media saying social media was used to stir riots.
Zuckerdouche quotes (Score:5, Insightful)
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask.
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks.
I love/hate China (Score:4, Informative)
Great for getting inexpensive electronics, but not so great if you expect any IP protection at all. Anything you have manufactured in China, you're handing to Chinese industry.
Whether they copy it for domestic tech bootstrapping or just run an extra shift turning out unlicensed additional units, you have a very real risk of losing control of your product.
Not that everyone else isn't doing it too, but generally there's better IP protection in the countries that are more expensive to operate in.
Re: I love/hate China (Score:1)
IP is bogus anyway. IP's usefulness has long since become nonsense. IP is just collected by large companies and used to bully smaller companies.
Re: (Score:2)
Personally, I think corporate ownership of IP should be illegal. IP ownership should be split among the people who created it, in some kind of agreed-upon proportions based on their input. Let companies license it from the people who created it... which could be in the form of "continued employment + ongoing bonus" or whatever.
And original patents were to encourage innovation, not squash it. Eternal IP is the antithesis of the original intent.
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Agreed.
IMO, copying has become taboo, but it is the only way to truly innovate without having to reinvent the wheel all the time. The current rules aren't working.
It's no wonder the PRC insisted on such agreements - they knew/know they have a lot to offer foreign companies, and so they put a price on it that makes sense for the country as a whole. It is right that they not allow foreign (read: US) companies to ride roughshod over their country., and their measures have been effective (eg GFW, and IP sharing
Zuck is a jerk, but the China statements were fair (Score:5, Informative)
We've got a lot of things that are true. Zuck is a jerk, and has been his whole career, that's unchanged.
He said some bad things about Chinese business, including how they had government-mandated technology transfer agreements and a tremendous amount of both private and state-sponsored industrial espionage. While his statements may have been bad, that doesn't make them false.
I mean, those statements about China's IP theft are so commonly repeated on Slashdot that they're not really news, yet still show up every week or two. I mean, you don't even have to look very far:
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
I don't doubt what Zuckerberg said was tr
Zuckerberg is (Score:2)
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The summary says the issue here is Meta's VR headsets. They don't even bother to mention Facebook the social media site. Like you said nobody wants cross-national social media sites.
There is no way in hell Xi is dumb enough (Score:2)
Tik Tok just barely gets away with it by being a video site rather than a full on social media site. The amount of data you have to give up so that Facebook works for it's intended purpose of connecting you with like minded individuals and family members is insane.