Ajit Pai Proposes Blocking China-Owned Telecom From US Phone Market (arstechnica.com) 47
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed denying China Mobile USA's application to offer telecom services in the U.S., saying the Chinese government-owned company poses a security risk. The FCC is scheduled to vote on an order to deny the application at its open meeting on May 9, and Pai yesterday announced his opposition to China Mobile entering the U.S. market. "After reviewing the evidence in this proceeding, including the input provided by other federal agencies, it is clear that China Mobile's application to provide telecommunications services in our country raises substantial and serious national security and law enforcement risks," Pai said. "Therefore, I do not believe that approving it would be in the public interest. I hope that my colleagues will join me in voting to reject China Mobile's application."
China Mobile filed its application in 2011, and has repeatedly complained about the government's lengthy review process. According to Pai's announcement, China Mobile's application sought authority "to provide international facilities-based and resale telecommunications services between the U.S. and foreign destinations." In simpler terms, the company was seeking "a license to connect calls between the United States and other nations" and "was not seeking to provide domestic cell service and compete in the country with businesses like AT&T and Verizon," The New York Times wrote yesterday. An FCC official told reporters that such calls "could be intercepted for surveillance and make the domestic network vulnerable to hacking and other risks," the Times wrote.
China Mobile filed its application in 2011, and has repeatedly complained about the government's lengthy review process. According to Pai's announcement, China Mobile's application sought authority "to provide international facilities-based and resale telecommunications services between the U.S. and foreign destinations." In simpler terms, the company was seeking "a license to connect calls between the United States and other nations" and "was not seeking to provide domestic cell service and compete in the country with businesses like AT&T and Verizon," The New York Times wrote yesterday. An FCC official told reporters that such calls "could be intercepted for surveillance and make the domestic network vulnerable to hacking and other risks," the Times wrote.
Re: And FINE them big bux (Score:1)
Who is âoetheyâ? Why does anyone owe you a damn thing? China owns this country. Better catch up on your Mandarin, stinky duck.
Good to see he's working on important matters (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
I will take the NSA over the Chinese MSS agency any day of the week. There are probably a lot of Chinese citizens who would make the same choice. In a perfect world neither agency would exist but we do not live in a perfect world. And if Chinese companies want in the US market they should be forced to adhere to the same conditions China requires when letting a foreign company into their market.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on where you are. In China, I'd put more trust in the NSA. In the US, I'd put more trust in ... whatever the Chinese variant is called. TCP, maybe.
Why?
Because in China, the NSA can do jack shit to me. In the US, its Chinese equivalent can do jack shit to me.
Re: (Score:2)
This is actually pro-consumer.
Exactly how is this "pro-consumer"? Pai is telling the consumers they aren't smart enough to recognize the non-fiscal costs of having this provider. What could this cell phone company do to a consumer that would be worse than what facebook already does to its users? The only difference is which government benefits in the end.
Re: (Score:3)
Saying the Chinese government-owned company poses a security risk
It's actually a pretty simple formula:
Chinese || Will drastically undercut US competitors -> Ban them "for security reasons"
US-owned && Consumer Reports ranked worst providers -> Encourage them, and overlook breaches, service condition violations, and price gouging.
Re: (Score:2)
So let's try to guess how well security letters will work to intercept all you calls with a Chinese company versus an American company. It is not about the government of China, it is totally 100% about the US government being able to spy on you, 24/7/365 and in the future play subliminal messages over phones at might as they sleep, they can hear you sleeping and now exactly when to start messaging you sleeping brain. You have some real shitty arse holes governing your country, dags on a sheep's butt https:/ [duckduckgo.com]
Re: (Score:2)
I don't have a problem with this. I'm tired of exporting all of our jobs to China, whose government subsidizes every step of manufacturing.
Why would not the Chinese government manufacture and get compromised devices into the U.S. market? They've stolen industrial and engineering secrets at every turn from us. So no one can claim that they are above moral reproach because they are not. Besides all the countless human rights abuses that continue to take place.
Today, Ajit Pai is good.
FCC's concern? (Score:4, Interesting)
Despite my feelings on this, I wonder if the FCC is the proper government body make such a decision. If they were saying they were doing so at the recommendation of say, DHS or NSA then it would be proper but I don't see how the FCC itself should be making such a determination.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You're right of course, however, DHS and FBI and all USSEC agrees with FCC on this and in fact FCC is just following their recommendation by doing this. In fact, it's obvious FCC is following those recommendations.
Why are you phrasing it suggesting otherwise? I say this as no fan of Ajit Pai. This decision is 100% in line with the rest of the US guidelines and directives. I don't understand why you'd assume otherwise on this.
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Of course the FCC is the proper government body to make this decision. The American telecoms have their lap dog in charge of the FCC and he's only giving a good return on their investment.
TELCOs Have Been Caught Spying In Foreign Markets (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:1)
And the NSA eavesdropped on everybody in the US, with at least AT&T's explicit assistance, while both denied it the whole time. And the US and their Five Eyes cronies eavesdropped on each other's countries and shared the results so that each country's spooks could deny spying on their own populations.
Did you have a point, or are we just reminding one another that we can't trust either our telcos or our governments when it comes
Our "arrangement" (Score:4, Interesting)
We know that our 5eyes friends are allowed to spy on us and share the data with our officials, in a clever end-run around around constitutional protections.
Imagine the power such a deal would grant with China, what with all those neat surveillance and control mechanism they use on their own people.
As long as the Chinese government remains a acquaintance and not a bedfellow, I think we will be safe from that sort of thing... but nothing last forever.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Good decision (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
The insistence of the American Intelligence agencies to ban anything China from the American phone/data network suggests it's possible to backdoor the network such that it can't be scrubbed clean. Even with source code and Nation State level R&D budgets.
Well, two things.
I think it's a reality check that software is complicated, and we don't have the resources or want to allocate resources to constantly monitor a Chinese entity to ensure it's on the up and up.
Second, once their are entrenched in our system, the cost of getting them out is huge. If their become our arch enemies 10 years from now and we've built an entire 5G infrastructure based on their technology that at best they won't support and at the worst they actively sabotage...
Hello, Pot? ... (Score:3)
An FCC official told reporters that such calls "could be intercepted for surveillance and make the domestic network vulnerable to hacking and other risks."
We're doing not one goddam thing to prevent US companies from doing the same shit.
BREAKING: US Sanctions ... (Score:2)
... China!
Point to the lie please, blathering does nothing. (Score:1)
It's actually not a lie. Ajit is repeating the US intel finding that Chi-Com owned companies pose a direct threat to US security. It's a fact, USSEC all says that. Even if Trump is a moronic traitor and Pai his lackey, it's a fact.
China's Communist Party owns and directly controls their companies to commit espionage. It's a fact. You can debate it until you're blue in the face.
US Banned from Asia...?? (Score:1)
US technology could get blocked too, after all the US has been caught time and time again spying on "allies".
Asia is 60% of the worlds population, does it really want to get blocked ?
Re: (Score:2)
You underestimate the value of spying. It prevents governments from doing rash things like believing alt-right conspiracy theories when they can get at the truth. We want NATO allies to spy on each other, it keeps them honest and prevents surprises from some of the maladjusted morons running some of those countries.
US Telecoms are not allowed in China... (Score:4, Informative)
So yeah, the door swings both ways.
No hope (Score:2)