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Huawei Sues the US In Pushback Against Security Risk Claims (latimes.com)

hackingbear writes: A suit filed by Huawei in Texas, where an American subsidy is located, this week is the latest maneuver in the Chinese telecommunications giant's global offensive against American pressure and persistent criticisms that it poses a national security risk. The company's lawsuit contends that the law which bans Huawei equipment without evidence and trial is a violation of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. also argues that Huawei poses an unacceptable security risk due to its tie with the Chinese government, though a 2003 due diligence by Motorola in a merger talk found Huawei was independent (Warning: source paywalled) of Chinese government or military (the merger failed after Motorola board thought the $7.5 billion price tag for Huawei was too high.) In the lawsuit announcement, Huawei Chairman Guo Ping also accused U.S. agencies of hacking Huawei servers and stealing emails and source code. In a similar case, China's Sanyi sued the Obama administration and forced CFIUS to determine that the the company's acquisitions "have not raised national security objections."

10 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Good luck suing the US in Texas, Chinese company.

  2. Dead in the water. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Non-citizens have human rights, but not constitutional rights. SCOTUS has already decided that.

    No one has the inalienable right to do business in the US.

    Any one's constitutional rights can be suspended for public safety or national security.

    Huawei should be fined for wasting the court's time and their lawyers sanctioned.

    1. Re:Dead in the water. by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      If a case never even should have been filed, typically it is only the lawyer that gets penalized, not the client.

  3. I feel a touch of nationalism coming on by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's fair to say the American nation isn't the envy of the World it once used to be, but the fact the Chinese can sue in American courts with a decent chance to win still says a lot about the differences between the two juggernaut nations.

    “Congress acted unconstitutionally as judge, jury and executioner,” Huawei executive Guo Ping said Thursday after announcing the court action.

    Guo Ping's evidently been binge-watching some Mandarin-dubbed spaghetti westerns.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:I feel a touch of nationalism coming on by hackingbear · · Score: 2

      the fact the Chinese can sue in American courts with a decent chance to win still says a lot about the differences between the two juggernaut nations.

      The differences only exist in your brain, washed over by American propaganda.

  4. Re: They should push for source code inspection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I mean Cisco aren't exactly a company I want to defend when it comes to that, but if you think Huawei is better than Cisco, whoooboy are you mistaken!

    It's like being in a prison courtyard and the second biggest bad dude there (Cisco) points out that the actual threat to everyone there is the biggest bad dude (Huawei). They are both not to be trusted and if you have to trust one more than the other, right now it isn't Huawei.

    The real kicker about it is that Huawei are better at doing what is tradjtionally thought of as the US corporations thing, bribing politicians to get favorable laws and/regulations, paying off those who bring lawsuits against them to avoid having been found in breach of regulations/laws, and doing whatever it needs (to include using gov't supplied hackers to dig up dirt on and harass people ) to get deals done. They have more people to put to the task and a government that is comfortable knowing most of what it does, won't have serious long term repercussions.

    They took the whole US playbook and are using it against them....

  5. Laughed out of court by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The company's lawsuit contends that the law which bans Huawei equipment without evidence and trial is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

    Anyone that's even heard of a clue, let alone has half of one, knows that national security is a valid and perfectly constitutional reason to prohibit government agencies from purchasing equipment or services from a foreign actor.

    They are challenging John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA 2019), specifically Section 889.

    Nothing in the law prevent private businesses from buying Huawei equipment but doing so could effectively lock them out of doing business with the federal government. It's just like the Kaspersky Anti-Virus situation where people a free to use it but it's a big no-no for the federal government.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Laughed out of court by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Doesn't it concern you that the government can just say "national security concerns" and ban pretty much anything? Even if it's not a ban on private business use, businesses are going to heed that message, especially if they want government contracts.

      Ping is right, if there is no oversight or evidence required then the government is out of control and the normal system of checks and balances has failed.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Laughed out of court by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      Research the Act of 1871. The UNITED STATES (all caps, no "of America") is a federal municipal corporation that own D.C. and is the defacto government.

      /Facepalm

      The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 served only to incorporate (ie. bring together) the cities of Washington and Georgetown, as well as the surrounding areas, into a single entity-the District of Columbia-for local governmental purposes. It had and has no bearing outside of DC, nor did it create a corporation governing all of the territorial US. There is not a second Constitution. Next you're going to say that because flags in courts have gold fringe it makes them maritime courts and invalidates their authority.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  6. Huawei: The story of a controversial company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Huawei
    Interesting article. Here's some snippets:

    "The African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa is a shiny spaceship-like structure that glistens in the afternoon sun.

    In 2006, Beijing pledged $200m to build the headquarters. Completed in 2012, everything was custom-built by the Chinese - including a state-of-the-art computer system.

    But in January 2018, French newspaper Le Monde Afrique dropped a bombshell.

    It reported that the AU’s computer system had been compromised.

    The newspaper, citing multiple sources, said that for five years, between the hours of midnight and 0200, data from the AU’s servers was transferred more than 8,000km away - to servers in Shanghai.

    Being a regular on /. I've noticed that any negative comments about Huawei are always responded to with angry denial, accusations and even threats. They really don't like their inability to apply censorship outside of their own country.