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US-China row moves underwater in cable tangle:
An underwater data cable, linking the US to Hong Kong, looks set to be rejected by the US government because of fears of Chinese data theft.
The Pacific Light Cable Network, backed by Google and Facebook, is designed to boost internet speed and capacity.
[...] The new cable was announced in 2016 as a partnership between Google, Facebook, and other companies.
Google said the cable would be 12,800 km long (8,000 miles) and would be the "highest-capacity trans-Pacific route".
[...] The project would also have portions connecting the US with Taiwan and the Philippines.
The cable has been laid, reportedly at a cost of "many millions of dollars", but needs approval to operate.
[...] The committee has recommended approval for the Taiwan and Philippines sections.
But on Wednesday, it recommended the US to Hong Kong section was denied "on national security grounds".
Do we need to boost capacity for Google and Facebook?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday June 20 2020, @01:07AM (4 children)
This is a private cable. This is part of FANGs building their own parallel internet where they can control all the content and prioritize their own traffic. You have no say in this.
(Score: 2) by legont on Saturday June 20 2020, @02:20AM (2 children)
I thought both Google and Facebook were booted from China by Chinese government. Face saving perhaps?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @05:27AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @09:06PM
More like cutting them a deal to pretty please let them in.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday June 20 2020, @01:05PM
Why should the federal government either? The rejection is mostly on spurious grounds anyway. While glancing through the rejection letter from "Team Telecom", I see that they had another complaint, namely, that it was running through Hong Kong and thus, allowed China to control and monitor regional internet in addition to their internal internet traffic.
As to the FANGs building their own private internet? Go for it. Every bit of the internet belongs to someone. The more that is out there, the more reliable it becomes.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @02:19AM (2 children)
Make the main link US-Philippines, let branches from Phil. go to TW and HK.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @03:09AM (1 child)
its already built
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @03:21AM
That doesn't matter if you can't operate it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @07:09AM (1 child)
Not that I care for more Chinese in the USA, but all the drama is Trump-China. The USA is a bystander, neutral at best.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @12:15PM
You are half right. The drama is Trump-Wang. China is a bystander.
(Score: 3, Touché) by richtopia on Saturday June 20 2020, @02:48PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells [wikipedia.org]
Slightly different context, but a very interesting operation. The Soviets were confident enough that the didn't encrypt the communication, so perhaps we should take some learnings from their mistake.