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US Bans American Companies From Selling To Chinese Electronics Maker ZTE (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The U.S. Department of Commerce is banning American companies from selling components to leading Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp for seven years for violating the terms of a sanctions violation case, U.S. officials said on Monday. The Chinese company, which sells smartphones in the United States, pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Texas for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions by illegally shipping U.S. goods and technology to Iran. It paid $890 million in fines and penalties, with an additional penalty of $300 million that could be imposed. As part of the agreement, Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp promised to dismiss four senior employees and discipline 35 others by either reducing their bonuses or reprimanding them, senior Commerce Department officials told Reuters. Update: The UK's cyber security watchdog has warned the UK telecoms sector not to use network equipment or services from Chinese supplier ZTE as it would have a "long term negative effect on the security of the UK."
Trump FOR THE WIN!!
So if the Trump administration is telling people to not buy ZTE (and Huawei) phones...that means that I need to buy a ZTE phone just on goddam principle.
Unlike China, there are real and freeish elections in Iran. There human rights are not nearly as bad as many of our friends. Sure, they are overseen by a religious right that most Iranians would love to remove. But they are certainly no worse than many of our other friends. (Same goes for Cuba.)
What is worse, picking on Iran just supports their religious right. It is counter productive.
And remember (if you ever knew) that Iran lost some 2 MILLION dead in the not so ancient war with Iraq, during which Hussein used plenty of chemical weapons. And we actively supported Hussein.
What do they have against:
Ztee, the search for a mobile phone
This is a charade and send the signal to Chinese companies the U.S. is not a reliable supplier, they will start to look for Europe and others Asian countries for components or develop their own alternatives more faster than before, then the trade gap will become even larger and the morons in Washington will continue to complain about it.
If you can't purchase the tech you need, you just steal it for free.
The Chinese already likely have copies of the masks of every component used, and could easily just counterfeit the shit, re-brand it, and keep selling.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
You make me worried, but until then I continue enjoying my gigabit internet for $20/month.
My next phone may be ZTE, BECAUSE they support Iran. Iran is probably the most likely country in the Middle East to become a fairly liberal Islamic democracy. They have a long tradition of revolution and a strong, wealthy expat community. If they do, they can be an example to other Middle Eastern countries -- better than having the Saudi and UAE kinglets being examples of how to run a country.
Isreal, is why you have anti iran policies.