TikTok Ban: Trump Will Prohibit Transactions With ByteDance Beginning September 20 (theverge.com) 217
According to The Verge, "President Trump has signed a new executive order which will block all transactions with Bytedance, TikTok's parent corporation, in an effort to 'address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain.'" From the report: The move comes after months of escalating tensions, which saw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others at the White House warn that TikTok presented a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership. Microsoft is currently in talks to acquire portions of the app, aimed to be complete by September 15th. Trump's new order is set to take effect in 45 days, just after the September 15th deadline set for negotiations in the Microsoft sale.
Another order banned transactions with WeChat, a popular texting app in China that has maintained a limited U.S. user base focused on recent Chinese immigrants. In both orders, the president names the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as authority for the move, as well as the National Emergencies Act -- effectively naming TikTok's continued operation within the United States as a national emergency. Such a move is highly unusual, and will likely be subject to a legal challenge.
Another order banned transactions with WeChat, a popular texting app in China that has maintained a limited U.S. user base focused on recent Chinese immigrants. In both orders, the president names the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as authority for the move, as well as the National Emergencies Act -- effectively naming TikTok's continued operation within the United States as a national emergency. Such a move is highly unusual, and will likely be subject to a legal challenge.
Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Funny)
Who needs internet from outside of the US? Problem solved.
When was the wall between the US and Canada planned?
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Funny)
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What borders on Stupidity?
Mexico and Canada,
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:4, Insightful)
There's a lot of smart people in the USA; unfortunately they're all too busy doing real jobs to bother with the incestuous, crooked Washington snakepit. Such guys used to be in engineering & "high tech.", (remember when HP invented stuff?) now mostly - sadly - in Finance or IOT / Cloud / "Unicorn" bullshit, chasing a quick buck.
I mean Google is great and everything, but it's not like putting men on the moon. That took some serious engineering chops.
At least we got SpaceX...run of course by...a South African
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especially since it's always the southern neighbor which pays the bill, right?
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Interesting)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others at the White House warn that TikTok presented a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership.
TikTok was originally an American company called Musical.ly. It was bought by ByteDance and rebranded as TikTok. If TikTok's Chinese ownership is such a problem, why was a Chinese company allowed to buy an American company in the first place?
This simply is another example of the stupidity of politicians. Today, they complain constantly that all the big tech companies have become too powerful. But they are the ones responsible for the situation. For several decades they have refused to do their job. They sat back, did nothing and allowed unlimited and unrestricted corporate mergers.
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because it wasn't very successful at the time, america thought they were getting one over on china by selling them something worthless... When the chinese managed to turn it around and gain a large userbase they're now jealous.
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When the chinese managed to turn it around and gain a large userbase they're now jealous.
Nice one. Now tell me about how DJI drones aren't actual spyware.
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If TikTok's Chinese ownership is such a problem, why was a Chinese company allowed to buy an American company in the first place?
It isn't a problem with Chinese ownership. It's a problem with a government that has proven they are anti-democratic, willing to put people into concentration camps, and put people into jail for the mere act of protesting peacefully.
The CCP is not nice to the Chinese people.
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a problem with a government that has proven they are anti-democratic [pbs.org], willing to put people into concentration camps [nbcnews.com], and put people into jail for the mere act of protesting peacefully [msn.com].
Are you talking about China or the US?
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Insightful)
President Trump has signed a new executive order which will block all transactions with Bytedance, TikTok's parent corporation, in an effort to 'address the national emergency with respect to a prank on TikTok that made me look bad. What do you mean 'Covid19 national emergency'? They're dying, that's true, it is what it is. TikTok is the real national emergency.'
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It's amazing how butt-hurt he's got over his rally flop, isn't it?
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Informative)
Narcissists suffer from what the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines as narcissistic injury:
âoe... vulnerability in self-esteem which makes narcissistic people very sensitive to âinjuryâ(TM) from criticism or defeat. Although they may not show it outwardly, criticism may haunt these individuals and may leave them feeling humiliated, degraded, hollow and empty. They react with disdain, rage, or defiant counterattack.â
Re: Why not cut the cords? (Score:2)
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Insightful)
It isn't a problem with Chinese ownership. It's a problem with a government that has proven they are anti-democratic, willing to put people into concentration camps, and put people into jail for the mere act of protesting peacefully.
We're talking about Trump's and the USA government's motivations here, not your own view of the Chinese government. Trump couldn't give a shit about the way the Chinese government treats it's citizens.
Oh actually that's not right. Trump actively praises China for the way they handle their citizens and for their undemocratic process, what did he say about Tiananmen Square?
"When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength," Trump replied. "That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak...as being spit on by the rest of the world."
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It's a problem with a government that has proven they are anti-democratic, willing to put people into concentration camps, and put people into jail for the mere act of protesting peacefully.
You mean this quote isn't about Trump and the US government?
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It's a problem with a government that has proven they are anti-democratic, willing to put people into concentration camps, and put people into jail for the mere act of protesting peacefully.
So the US government is a problem? Let's see, Trump is currently trying to prevent mail-in voting and the Republicans have a long history of gerrymandering and disenfranchising people. Trump had kids locked in cages and the prison-industrial complex is one huge human rights violation. You have unidentified federal agents grabbing peaceful protesters off the streets.
The US government is not nice to the American people.
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Trump had kids locked in cages
Wasn't that started under Obama? Weren't fewer children caged under Trump? You'r talking about something that previous US presidents initiated and then expanded, which was restricted by Trump, and yet you blame Trump?
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Informative)
It's true, the cages started under Obama. But they were designed as temporary holding cells and children would be kept with their families.
Trump started the zero tolerance policy that filled them to overflowing, with the 72 hour limit being regularly exceeded and which separated them from their parents. Regardless of what you think of the zero tolerance policy if you are going to separate children from their families there is a moral responsibility to look after them better than just throwing them in a cage for a few weeks.
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Re: Why not cut the cords? (Score:2)
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:4, Informative)
Why exactly do you think that people only want to come to America? There are tons of illegal immigrants in countries like Russia, Angola, Iran or Bangladesh. All awesome places to live according to your logic.
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Insightful)
Lots of people try to get in to China, especially from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. There are always worse places.
Re: Why not cut the cords? (Score:2)
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Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Informative)
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Have you ever been to China? I have, multiple times over the years.
Talk to the people there over a beer and watch the fear spring into their eyes if you mention politics, democracy and the CCP.
Yes, they are proud of their culture and nation, (like most people) but they're under no illusions about what would happen to them if they step out of line.
You're the one talking bollocks.
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"Have you ever been to China?"
He probably lives there. Rarely have I seen a more obvious sock puppet.
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If you're going to use thinly veiled racism, at least acknowledge that the USA left itself vulnerable due to poor leadership, becoming one of the hot spots because most people were following Trump's denial fetish.
India has an excuse of being densely populated and having poverty. USA instead wanted to race to #1 in number of cases, as if it were a D&D campaign where a death cult spreads a plague with help of a corrupt and incompetent leadership.
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>If you're going to use thinly veiled racism
You must be livid about massive amounts of racism in medical community, calling things by the places they originated. Think of the horribly racist example of Ebola.
Re:Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Informative)
Also Tencent, which owns WeChat, owns many American properties, and European ones for that matter.
Movies:
- Warcraft
- Kong: Skull Island
- Wonder Woman
- Venom
- Bumblebee
- Men In Black International
- Terminator Dark Fate
- Top Gun Maverick
- etc.
Video Games:
- Full ownership of Riot Games, the American developers of Valorant and League of Legends
- Full ownership of Norwegian publisher Funcom.
- Full ownership of Swedish developer Sharkmob, founded in 2017 by ex-Ubisoft developers and fully acquired by Tencent in 2019.
- 80% ownership in the New Zealand company Grinding Gear Games, the developers of the game Path of Exile.
- Approximately 84% ownership in Finnish mobile game developer Supercell, makers of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale
- 40% ownership of American developers Epic Games, the developer of popular online game Fortnite
- 20% ownership of Japanese publisher and developer Marvelous which own G-Mode and the majority of Data East's intellectual properties including: BurgerTime, Joe & Mac, and Magical Drop franchises.
- 18.6% ownership of Chinese company iDreamSky, which mainly develops and publishes mobile games for the Chinese market.
- 5% ownership of Chinese company Century Huatong, which operates games developed by FunPlus. Tencent became a shareholder through an investment in Century Huatong's subsidiary Shengqu Games.
- 17.66% ownership of South Korean mobile developer Netmarble.
- Approximately 15% ownership of American mobile game developer Glu Mobile
- 13.54% ownership of South Korean company Kakao, the parent company of South Korean publisher Kakao Games.
- 9% ownership in UK developer Frontier Developments
- 5% ownership of American holding company Activision Blizzard, the parent company of Activision, Blizzard and King
- 5% ownership of Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive
- 5% ownership in France's Ubisoft, purchased from Vivendi following Vivendi's failed attempt to buy out Ubisoft in March 2018
- 1.5% ownership of South Korean company Bluehole, the publisher of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
- Majority ownership in Switzerland-based mobile game developer Miniclip
- Capital Investment in Japanese developer PlatinumGames
- Minority share in German developer Yager Development
Music:
- 10% stake of Spotify
- 10% stake of Vivendi Universal
- 1.6% of Warner Music Group
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Movies:
- Warcraft
Finally we know who to blame!
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If this ban is interpreted to mean that Spotify must also therefore be blocked, we'll have an interesting election season.
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Yeah - I'm sure the threat is TikTok and not literally every security camera or smart device on the market. If this wasn't a personal vendetta, it would have been a broader ban. This is micro-targeted to the platforms that embarrass him in Tulsa.
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Shame you posted AC. Insightful indeed.
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When was the wall between the US and Canada planned?
Canada just built it a couple months ago (at least, legally).
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Who paid for it? Canadians? :P
sept 20th? What a coincidence (Score:2)
That's the same day facebook is required to sell it's china operations to Tik Tok.
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Seriously though who would have predicted that the US would be the one to split up the internet? We figured it would be China or maybe Russia, but it might well be America if all the arse-lickers like Johnson and Abe follow suit.
Fortunately I can VPN around any blockade so my wife can keep in touch with her family.
Re: Why not cut the cords? (Score:5, Insightful)
China split up the Internet ages ago with the GFW. This is just economic tit-for-tat.
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Since when is a social media company "the internet" ?
Same logic (Score:5, Insightful)
Using the same logic I'm looking forward to the rest of the world banning Facebook.
China already bans facebook (Score:3)
Doh!
This man is trying too hard I am afraid... (Score:5, Insightful)
...as well as the National Emergencies Act -- effectively naming TikTok's continued operation within the United States as a national emergency....
He is focusing on inconsequential things even as Americans continue to die in large numbers - averaging at least 1,200 per day and getting worse!
He's trying too hard [in my opinion], to change the channel. May the Almighty be our guide as we approach November.
It's not that (Score:5, Insightful)
I should add (Score:5, Insightful)
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Urm, not sure the Uighurs and Tibetans would agree with you.
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I don't think the native Americans would agree that capitalism doesn't kill. Same with the Mexicans who live in what is now the SW part of America. Or even the Hawaiians who seem to have lost their independent country in a coup engineered by an American pineapple company.
Then there is all the banana republics and the deaths that happened there to support certain companies, I'm sure that can be blamed on communism. Even Cuba was a reaction to what capitalism was doing to their country.
3 words (Score:2)
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Tusla, Ok rally.
And abandoned shopping carts full of Trump merchandise [theverge.com]... though I don't think that worked.
Re: 3 words (Score:2)
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Young people talk shit about voting but don't actually vote. The elderly on the other hand vote way more.
Who wants to fight a cyberwar? (Score:3)
Hmm... Kind of a stretch to see that as insightful, but this is Slashdot 2020 after all. However I think you're stretching too far to claim that Trump is focusing on anything. He has the attention span (and intellect) of a drunken gnat. But a gnat with a YUGE Twitter account and it's amazing how quickly Trump can change the news of the day from this to that to something else. Anything else when he's feeling desperate. I lost track in July and it's getting worse. I'm having enough trouble trying to remember
Re:Who wants to fight a cyberwar? (Score:5, Insightful)
Know you how can tell the TikTok ban is obvious Trumpian bullshit? There is a much better way to handle it, but one which isn't "build a wall" and walls is all Trump knows.
Just require TikTok to be regulated properly for data protection, along with every other app. Pass your version of GDPR and require TikTok to follow it. Sending data outside the country where it can't be regulated will be illegal. Requite the code to be audited if you like.
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Yeah I really think China is scared of the GDPR. All that did was stop some US news sites from being available to Europeans. Say a US company does not comply with the GDPR. Will Europe simply route them to 127.0.0.1?
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Primary argument: "OMG it will cost businesses so much money to implement!"
Counter-argument: "They already have implemented it, because of GDPR in the EU. It will actually cost very little because it's already done for any business that can conceivably interact with an EU citizen."
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It's not so much "walls is all Trump knows" as it is that Trump isn't interested in solving problems. He's interested in being seen as solving problem. Perception is everything to Trump. Reality doesn't matter, except when it interferes with how he is being perceived.
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Russia and China (and some smaller countries like North Korea and Israel) have strong offensive capabilities, too.
Most of them have any kind of force projection, so they can offend nearby countries, but not much more. Sure the Russians have an aircraft carrier, but it's so unreliable it has to be shadowed 24/7 by an ocean going tug. Russia and China can drop nukes anywhere, Israel can drop them nearbyish and NK can probably drop one with an 80% chance of the rocket blowing up.
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He is focusing on inconsequential things ...
True, but he's got everyone else focused on those trivial things too. That's is great gift as a politician, changing the subject. There's never been anyone better at it.
Re: This man is trying too hard I am afraid... (Score:2)
What good will that data do anyone in China? It's basically irrelevant.
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What's the joke about the statistician that died trying to cross a river because it was only 3 feet deep on average?
More to this... (Score:2, Interesting)
There is more to this than hitting up TikTok for money. This is, I think, the same thing that the US is trying to do to Huawei. This is what I posted back in May of 2019 about Huawei
You have to analyze why Huawei is under attack.
What is it the Americans really want? This doesn't feel like part of the recent trade negotiation strategy (if you call it that) that the US is using. Indeed, the Huawei issue, in some form or another, predates the Chinese trade "squabble" by a significant margin. The Huawei issue started with US and other Western countries alleging that Huawei was implanting Chinese back doors into their products. The US is bringing some really intense pressure to bear on Huawei, including using my country (Canada) as a weapon, something I don't much appreciate.
Now, the US accusing Huawei of implanting back doors is a bit rich, seeing as this has been a tactic of the United States for a very long time. A la Cisco, a la RSA Labs, a la NIST. These are just some of the ones we know about. I think the real issue here is the exact opposite of Huawei intentionally inserting back doors. I think the real issue is that Huawei has been resistant to putting in back doors for Google (slash the US slash five eyes). It makes sense in a perverse way if you think about it. I want someone to steal information for me, so I accuse them of stealing information for someone else publicly and privately tell them that accusation goes away when they do what I want. I then bring other pressure to bear, trade pressures, legal pressures, absolutely as much of it as I can. Against them, their family, their friends, everyone. And if they reveal what the real pressure is, if they reveal what I'm really asking them to do (that I'm trying to get them to steal information for me), then publicly I laugh and say "now they are just trying to distract from the fact they are stealing information for someone else".
So, you see, it's really the one thing that makes sense. When look at it while asking the question "what does the act of accusing Huawei of putting in back doors prevent them from revealing?" then the answer is obvious. Accusing them of putting in back doors for someone else effectively pulls their teeth and prevents them from credibly being able to accuse the US of trying to get them to do that very thing for them.
I'll tell you what. As long as this continues, Huawei will be my top choice for phone vendor. If the US is raising this much of a stink, they are likely the safest thing going to prevent NSA listening.
I think this is true for TikTok too. I think Trump is doing the exact same thing to TikTok that he was trying to do to Huawei. I think he wants NSA back doors into it, and TikTok told them to pound sand. So he accuses them of spying for China and says he'll hit them in the pocketbook until they play ball.
Re:More to this... (Score:4, Informative)
China spies, America does too.
China competes in the global marketplace for money, America does too.
The Chinese government crushes Hong Kong, stopping free speech, preventing books from being written, putting protestors in jail for life. The American government does not, and very few governments in the world do that.
Re:More to this... (Score:5, Interesting)
The Chinese government crushes Hong Kong, stopping free speech, preventing books from being written, putting protestors in jail for life. The American government does not, and very few governments in the world do that.
There's that. But I think there's also a few other issues involved here.
First, I think the US is finally tiring of China's near continuous state-sponsored cyber-espionage (which has dramatically spiked this year) against both government and commercial institutions. There's been all but open electronic warfare here, but it's almost impossible to find a true smoking gun, just lots of strong indicators. So the US is starting to punish China through indirect means. I suspect it's more the state-supported industrial espionage that the government finds most objectionable (which is blatantly breaking a 2015 agreement reached with Obama), as political espionage has always been expected, and of course, is also practiced by the US. The government was wise, IMO, to flatly reject the option of a Chinese company building out our communications infrastructure, given the current state of affairs.
Second, I think the economic advantage in our involvement in China has been significantly reduced. China is becoming a tech and economic powerhouse on their own, initially fueled in large part by our investments but now self-sustaining. And while China certainly has a lot of technological prowess of their own, to be perfectly blunt, their technology base was kickstarted by industrial espionage on a massive scale for the past few decades. American arrogance or shortsightedness assumed they couldn't really catch up, or that they could copy, but not innovate. Oops. They're now serious competitors. Worse, they're still playing those same espionage games, assuming the old rules still apply, but it's really no longer to our advantage to look the other way in exchange for some cheap labor.
Third, the hope that China would liberalize if we open up trade with them hasn't happened. Instead, precisely the opposite has occurred. Xi Pooh is now dictator for life, and under his reign, political opponents are being arrested for "corruption", persecution of minorities has intensified, and human rights are being newly quashed. China is doubling down on the "iron fist" approach.
Fourth, I think the US is growing wary of Chinese increasing influence even of our culture. More people are aware of Hollywood's kowtowing to China's state-run censors, and are not happy about it. The popularity of a Chinese social media app among young people, which has been found to be slurping up an alarming amount of data surreptitiously, is just icing on the cake.
Fifth, I don't think the Covid-19 pandemic has warmed any feelings towards China either, even though you really can't really logically blame them for a naturally occurring virus that spreads this virulently.
Basically, I think many in the US tire of our imbalanced relationship with China, and are looking to distance the country a bit more from them socially, economically, and politically.
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How do you twist the arm of the Chinese elites? Twist their arms by hurting their investments. Economic warfare goes on all the time in negotiations.
If you are displeased with China exporting censorship by making Hollywood and sports and so on kneel to protect their elites and expansionism, this is what pushback looks like.
Five points (Score:2)
I would wager a lot of money that the reason reason is, "Tik Tok made me look bad in Tulsa. I want to hurt them."
Re:More to this... (Score:5, Insightful)
The Chinese government crushes Hong Kong, stopping free speech, preventing books from being written, putting protestors in jail for life. The American government does not, and very few governments in the world do that.
Indeed it doesn't. But let's not pretend that Trump actively envies China's ability to do this. On multiple occasions he's praised Xi's leadership, China's strength, and even went so far as to say "China almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength" commenting on Tiananmen Square.
As for Hong Kong, the entire world denounced it. What does the OrangemanOTUS do? Capitulates with China and passes an executive order that declares Hong Kong is no longer treated with any special status compared to the rest of China.
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Give it time, Trump is getting there.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/fe... [fivethirtyeight.com]
Re: More to this... (Score:2, Troll)
> The Chinese government crushes Hong Kong, stopping free speech, preventing books from being written, putting protestors in jail for life. The American government does not, and very few governments in the world do that.
Bollocks. HK is getting on very well now those petulant children are under control and there are now solid national security laws in place as per the agreement which was never honoured.
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The Chinese government crushes Hong Kong, stopping free speech, preventing books from being written, putting protestors in jail for life. The American government does not, and very few governments in the world do that.
The American government has crushed or dominated more governments than the Chinese government during the time that there has been an American government.
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"The Chinese government crushes Hong Kong, stopping free speech, preventing books from being written, putting protestors in jail for life. The American government does not..."
I take it you haven't noticed the cammo-clad, heavily armed paramilitary thugs brutalizing and kidnapping citizens on the streets of your cities lately.
Re:More to this... (Score:5, Interesting)
Trump is not some sophisticated 4D chess player concerned with backdoors and trade policies. He is just concerned about his fragile ego.
Re:More to this... (Score:5, Interesting)
It's also part of his xenophobic campaign strategy. Can't do Mexicans again because that would mean admitting he failed to build the wall, so Chinese are the target this time.
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I think that you're over generalizing. Security researchers have sound huge security issues in TikTok's application, where it was leaking call phone data back their servers.
Trump might be looking for an excuse to shut them down, the ByteDance had no problems giving him one.
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I can't seem to find evidence either way that TikTok had an effect on tickets.
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This guy looked into the actual datacollection from Tiktok and found nothing special:
https://medium.com/@fs0c131y/t... [medium.com]
It's empty claims and speculation. It could have been true that the chinese were doing some western style surveillance data collection, but not even that.
One minor problem... (Score:2)
Except for the teensy tiny little issue of the First Amendment...
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The First Amendment is less likely to be the issue here than Article I, Section 9, which bans bills of attainder.
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A bill of attainder would be a bill (a law passed by Congress) which results in attainder (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attainder) of an individual.
This is neither a bill, nor attainder.
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That's a good point. And, as written, the First only applies to Congress as well. The courts have expanded it to ALL governmental entities. I wouldn't be surprised if those rulings could expand Bill of Attaninder to all governmental entities as well.
What counts as a transction? (Score:2)
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> ByteDance runs the payment processor Tencent.
No, it doesn't. ByteDance is an entirely different company than Tencent. You may be confusing them both as WeChat is owned by Tencent, and seemingly the Trump order is also against WeChat.
Can Europe do the same with FB and Google, etc.? (Score:2, Interesting)
Can Europe e.g. force the sale of local subsidiaries in Europe, thus creating their own social messaging industry, that can compete against US? It would be great to have alternatives.
wars are a great way to get re-elected (Score:4, Interesting)
Trump definitely doesn't want to put troops on the ground but this is really the next best thing. Trade, big corporations, social media giants ... what better way to throw around a bit of good old fashioned USA swagger? Plus if DT has no enemies, no one to complain about or deride, no one to attack and paint as the enemy then he basically has nothing. Much better if those enemies are not Americans, although he's not adverse to that either.
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And yet (Score:5, Interesting)
All in all, it continues to resemble a shakedown attempt, an attempt to financially distress a successful foreign business and then buy it up cheap. I hope if TikTok does sell itself they do it in a way to fuck over Trump and Microsoft.
Might get a reaction (Score:2, Interesting)
Odd.... (Score:2)
I just checked mine and my family members phones.... none of us have TikTok on it. TikTok is not pre-installed and isn't mandatory. The fuss is rather silly....
Conspiracy Theory? (Score:3)
Could it be that the President is hostile towards TikTok because comedian Sarah Cooper is using it to nail him so effectively?
The reason given seems to be "national security"... but, come on, there must be *dozens* of products or services from China that would be ahead of Tik-Tok on a list from the NSA or DNI?
Why not wait? (Score:4, Insightful)
By the 4th/5th of November, those adults in the USA who are allowed to vote may have rejected him and by 21 January 2021, there might be an adult in the Oval office.
Admittedly, it will take them a while to clear up the mess. There are so many bad laws and policies implemented that they may decide to deal with domestic matters first but perhaps the "furrin" hating nationalists might have been rendered marginally less powerful for a while. The USA could deal with the facts, not what makes morons and bigots happy?
The rest of he planet can be hopeful anyway...
And Nothing of Value Was Lost (Score:3)
It literally prohibits "transactions" (Score:2)
I read the order simply to see what summaries meant by "transaction" and it turns out they're not summaries. The order is literally that. Transactions between Americans and ByteDance are prohibits.
I assume the main meaning is financial (as in "financial transactions") but I don't actually know. Do TikTok users pay? Or does it come down to something else, like we're not allowed to send packets to ByteDance servers? "Transaction" is a very broad term, especially within the context of computer programs, so it'
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I swear English is my first language!
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Do TikTok users pay?
Maybe not - but you have to pay the Apple Developer fee to release apps in the app store. So say goodbye to the entire iPhone platform. With Android there is always the APK method but this is far from the only issue. If they want to be ad-supported, no advertising network can touch them.
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If so, then from a civil liberties perspective, the executive order and US-vs-China aspects of this isn't what's interesting or important. The issue seems to be the weird video-game-console twistedness that has corrupted handheld PCs. Put it on a desktop, where users (so far) are still in control, and the order wouldn't have much power. (e.g. The government might try to ban libcss, but effectively can't.)
It's highly abnormal that publishing software requires any sort of financial transaction with a specific
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TDS comments abound (Score:2)