China Wont Impose New Wi-Fi Security Standard; Software Exec, Under U.S. Inquiry, Resigns Top Posts; Man Mistaken for 9/11 Terrorist

China Wont Impose New Wi-Fi Security Standard

According to The Mercury News today, the technology industry won an important concession yesterday when China agreed to U.S. demands to abandon a proprietary standard for encryption in wireless computing. China had licensed the formula for encrypting wireless signals to only a handful of Chinese companies, forcing foreign companies to enter joint production deals with local companies to sell their products in China. The proprietary standard would have effectively kept Intel and other companies making chips for the popular technology called WiFi, or wireless fidelity, out of the rapidly growing Chinese market. Intel, Texas Instruments and other chip makers said they would not make chips that conform to the standard. China insisted last month that it wouldn’t budge, but conceded Wednesday and agreed to join global talks on setting rules.Software Exec, Under U.S. Inquiry, Resigns Top PostsThe New York Times today, Sanjay Kumar resigned yesterday as chairman and chief executive of Computer Associates International as a criminal investigation into securities fraud and obstruction of justice reached the highest level of the company. Kumar’s resignation will probably buy time for the company from action by the prosecutors and the S.E.C. Since January, four former executives have pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud or obstruction of justice, including Ira H. Zar, the former chief financial officer. In their pleas, the executives have portrayed a wide-ranging conspiracy at Computer Associates to lie to prosecutors and the company’s own lawyers about its past practice of backdating sales to meet Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Kumar has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the investigation has focused on him in the last few weeks.

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Man Mistaken for 9/11 Terrorist reports that on April 10, Ryan Allen was about to purchase a car. When Van Chevrolet in Kansas City checked his credit, Allen’s Social Security number came up as belonging to Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, described by federal authorities as a senior al Qaeda operative suspected of helping to coordinate the September 11 attacks. The dealership called police, who called the FBI, which said the matter did not have a high priority because al-Shibh was arrested two years ago in Pakistan, Allen told CNN. Nevertheless, the dealership refused to sell to Allen. He contacted Treasury and Social Security Administration officials who could not assure him the number wasn’t used in other ways or that the problem would not recur.

CNN.com