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Huawei Had a Deal To Give Washington Redskins Fans Free Wi-Fi, Until the Government Stepped In (wsj.com)

Two years after a congressional report labeled Huawei a national-security threat, the Chinese firm unexpectedly scored a big-name ally in Washington. It was the Redskins, the capital's National Football League franchise. Huawei reached an agreement in 2014 to beam Wi-Fi through the suites at the team's FedEx Field, in exchange for advertising in the stadium and during broadcasts. From a report: It was a marketing coup for a company hankering to beef up its meager U.S. business and boost its image inside the Beltway. But the deal didn't last long. A government adviser read about the partnership. He knew the FedEx Field suites were a frequent haunt for lawmakers and senior officials across many agencies. So he triggered an unofficial federal complaint to the Redskins, who quietly tore up the deal. That previously unreported backroom maneuver is an example of a yearslong effort by U.S. officials, often working outside formal channels, to blacklist the Chinese technology giant. Washington has since intensified the campaign and taken it mainstream, with Congress and federal agencies working this year to snuff out Huawei's small U.S. business and curtail its much bigger overseas ambition. Further reading: Huawei Exceeds 200 Million Smartphone Shipments, Setting Company Record.

14 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Best Buy dropped Huawei phones too by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Insightful

    An entirely independent commercial decision, in no way influenced by political or other government pressure. Blessings of the masses, blessing of the State....

    I'm sure Best Buy didn't sell them because they didn't consider them commercial viable. Now why aren't they commercially viable? Perhaps because the government has marked them as unsafe and open to the Chinese government for eavesdropping.

    I've no idea if Huawei is Chinese spyware; maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the thought that they might be is going to scare consumers away and put off Best Buy from providing it.

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    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  2. Re:If not the Chinese... by magarity · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But with dictator government under TRUMP

    It's truly beautiful how you have the freedom to post on US websites that you think the current US president is a dictator. I hope some day citizens of Russia and China may have the freedom to complain similarly about Xi and Putin but it probably won't happen until well after their lifetime office holding is over.

  3. Define "free" by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Knowing what the Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, and his efforts to extract every penny from fans, I doubt that there no strings attached to Wifi access. The Dan Snyder I know would have gotten Huawei to supply the Wifi for no cost to him and then charged fans for access. I can only assume that Snyder worked out a deal where he would profit on the access like selling the right to datamine/track each fan. That's the only way it would have been "free" for fans.

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    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  4. Re: Best Buy dropped Huawei phones too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    https://nypost.com/2018/12/22/how-arrest-of-chinese-princess-exposes-regimes-world-domination-plot/

  5. Re:Time for limited government yet? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

    No I am guessing the detail was that the Redskins would sell off/profit from the ability to track/datamine every single person that used Wifi including and not limited to installing spying software just to use the Wifi.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  6. Re: Best Buy dropped Huawei phones too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    US formally accused Huawei of a crime, they ignored it. Their officer went into US legal jurisdiction in Canada, was arrested and held for trial like anyone else. The next day they arrest 2 unrelated Canadians on BS-nothing charges. They don't even specify the charges, because there are no charges yet, they haven't thought of any and nobody in China is required to do anything like a normal country of laws, it's a shit show. So now you have one person facing a trial and well-spelled formal charges, they have attorneys and make bail motions, versus China holding "hostages" essentially so they get their way in this legal fight. That's what you're defending, you treasonous faggot bitch. God I hope you find the inside of a Chinese prison some day for comparative educational purposes you shilling faggot.

    Huawei has a rather documented history of sending private data back to China, they keep saying it's an accident. Fuck you, fuck them, China is a criminal enterprise without pretense. Now continue tapdancing you bitch.

  7. Re:If not the Chinese... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2

    Russian citizens do complain similarly about Putin. Is it also beautiful?

    --
    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  8. Re:No Evidence Presented by green1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Germany has outright stated that they don't believe the US as no evidence has ever been presented. Considering that US companies have actually been caught doing exactly what Huawei is accused of, but Huawei never has, I'm far more trusting of Huawei than of any American company.

  9. Re:No Evidence Presented by raftpeople · · Score: 4, Informative

    Are you seriously unaware of the series of laws that the Chinese have passed over the last 5 years that require Chinese (and foreign companies operating in China) to collaborate with Chinese intelligence?

  10. Seems reasonable. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

    With national security at stake, it seem like this was a reasonable to distrust a Chinese state run corporation (Huawei) from directly connecting to government devices. If it were a random company from an ally nation then it might be overkill but we're talking about China which has a ongoing effort to hack US interests.

    You would have to be ignorant of history of just plain gullible to think nothing is wrong with this situation.

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  11. Re:Best Buy dropped Huawei phones too by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's that they US intelligence community doesn't have backdoors into the phones. Can't have the commoners keeping secrets.

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    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  12. Re:If not the Chinese... by magarity · · Score: 2

    Russian citizens do complain similarly about Putin. Is it also beautiful?

    That they get thrown in jail for doing it is not so beautiful but that they're brave enough to do it anyway is.

  13. Re:If not the Chinese... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not for complaining on a webforum.
    Otherwise Russia would have overtaken the US on the number of incarcerated people long ago.

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    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  14. Re:If not the Chinese... by dryeo · · Score: 2

    Not the average person, who are free to let off steam just like in the west. Things are worse if you're popular, famous or such and criticize Putin, which makes Trump envious as in America there are fewer loopholes in the 1st Amendment currently, but with all the activist judges being appointed to the Supreme Court, the types of speech that aren't protected is sure to grow beyond the national security, breaking sanctions and think of the children loopholes.
    At least Russians are more free then ever, whereas here in the west, things are going backwards when it comes to freedom.

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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism