U.S., Japan Ask Sony To Not Outsource PS2 To Taiwan

Payp points to this Digitimes story which says: "Japanese and U.S. governments have asked Sony to stop outsourcing Playstation 2 manufacturing to 2 Taiwanese companies, Asustek and Acer, in fear that they would do the manufacturing in factories in China, which would give the Chinese government opportunies to gain access to the DVD techonology. (I thought some DVD players are already manufactured in China.) Sony originally planned to use the Taiwanese companies to manufacture PS2 to prepare for Microsoft XBox's arrival, the manufacturing of which is also outsourced to some Taiwanese companies."

Comments

Protecting DVD Tech my arse

[Anonymous Coward]

There are tons of articles all over the place on the web DVD technology - I doubt thats what they are trying to protect. What I think they really fear is access to the PS2's emotion chip technology, which the Japanese said is powerful enough to control weapons such as guided missles.

Cheap ruse, try again.

Re:Protecting DVD Tech my arse

[BlueUnderwear]

> Well, we didn't care where we landed on the moon exactly. On the other hand, with missiles, you need very precise guidance

...and up to date maps ;-) The Chinese should know, having lost an embassy that way...

Dang commies!

[BassHombre]

If China gets a hold of our DVD technology, they might find even more illeagal uses for it. The nerve of people thinking they have the right to *watch* the movies they buy! Dang commies! God bless America!

Re:More than just a CD player

[mclearn]

There's more to DVDs than layers - most DVDs are single-layered anyway.

At first glance, I read this as "There's more to DVDs than lawyers..."

Manufacturing vs assembly -- BIG DIFFERENCE

[Ryu2]

Most of the "manufacturing" going on in China and Taiwan is actually ASSEMBLY of components into a final product, not actual MANUFATURE of components themselves (eg, semiconductors or DVD readers), which themselves come from US or Japan.

Perhaps if Sony wanted China/Taiwan to actually fab the chips, then there might be danger of intellectual property being stolen.

To assemble stuff requires far less advanced technology (soldering, etc) than actually making the raw components. So, in order to get any useful technology, the Chinese would have to take the chip apart or use other methods of reverse engineering, and I don't see how not letting China/Taiwan handle the assembly would stop this anyways.

Re:What am I missing here?

[Punto]

But an Athlon can merrily perform all the same functions, if not a bit more!

Sure, they can have their little encrypted communications, and develop their misiles with an athlon, but DVD technology will give them access to something even worse: illegal DVD copies!! (wich I'm sure they are alredy producing anyway). We can't allow that.

Remember: When you buy a Play Station 2, you are buying COMUNISM !!!

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this has to be a hoax

[egomaniac]

Hasn't anyone considered the possibility that this is a hoax? I've read four or five articles saying this exact same thing for the past few weeks, and not one has been more specific than "according to our sources".

"According to our sources"? What, like our government would make a silly request like this and then refuse to talk to the press about it? Which branch of the government or military made the request? Which committee debated doing this? Who was ultimately responsible for the decision? What experts solemnly related their opinions that DVD technology is somehow dangerous? Are DVD-ROM drives banned in China? How about DVD players?

The complete lack of such details in any of these articles makes me very, very suspicious of their veracity. Especially when you consider the fact that a lot of people were actually dumb enough to think that Saddam Hussein was somehow interested in PS2 technology for military use -- haven't we heard this story before?

Strong encryption

[truthsearch]

the DVD application of the console's chip could be used for military purposes

Must be the extremely complex encryption code used in DVD players that the government's so worried about. What's the worst the Chinese military could use the DVD app for, showing training videos?

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Officials Fear That Which They Do Not Understand

[TheBracket]

When I was studying in Springfield, MO (at the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies) many of the right-wing psychopaths there would like to rant and rail about this type of deal. You may remember the fuss that was made about Iraq (and by default, the US's then-favourite bugbear, Saddam Hussein) obtaining PS2s, and using them in weapons guidance systems. At the time, it was evident from talking to them that most of them hadn't the faintest idea what these "super computers" they had read about would be used for, but "because they were super computers" it was obviously bad. The sad thing is, this was the prevalent attitude amongst guest speakers (including several well-positioned Washington aides); they didn't understand it, but it was high technology, and therefore not to reach "bad guys". Many of the people with whom I graduated (the aforementioned Right Wing Psychopaths!) now work for the Bush administration, so won't be at all surprised to see this sort of thing become more prominent.

The funny part of this is that there are several military areas in which Russia - and friends (China, in particular) have always done better than the West. In particular, missile defence, SAM systems and similar. Admittedly, part of their success may be attributed to a willingness to detonate an explosive near the target - rather than just trying to hit it, but their systems are very advanced. The really funny part is that old Macs (68k and some early PowerPC), old PCs (386s, 486s) are readily available in so-called "rogue states" - in fact, the United States has led the way in giving old PCs to Russia! 3/486s may be a little slow, but they are still significantly more advanced than the chips that guided the original MX missile. They are also a well-established, well-understood technology - and therefore attractive to militaries. (What do you think they are using in Internet Cafes in Iran?)

Personally, I always thought that the "Iraq wants PS2s" argument was a subtle ad-campaign for Sony. While the Emotion Engine is powerful, it is focussed pretty heavily on 3D rendering. While I can think of some uses for it, I'd much rather develop systems on readily available PC parts!

And in other news....

[basit]

Japanese and US governments have asked Circuit City, Best Buy, and Sony not to sell any PS2 units or DVD players to Chinese citizens, as this would give the dangerous technology of DVD to China. QUEL HORRUER! The Chinese will now be able to watch the Caddyshack double DVD set! This must be stopped at all expense!

What am I missing here?

[Jennifer E. Elaan]

I'm just wondering what I'm missing. Is this the "Acer" that makes DVD-ROM drives? I'm confused.

And Asus? Huh? They're not worried about the dangers of K7 motherboards, but an MPEG-2 decoder chip is dangerous? But an Athlon can merrily perform all the same functions, if not a bit more!

I think these "sources" sound like a couple teenage kids with a little too much [favorite drug here] on their brains.

Wouldn't it be more dangerous if China got ahold of just one or two well-trained EE's from around here?

-- Blore's Razor: