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Did you hear it was just a ban on Chinese humanoid robots? It's not:
When the Trump administration announced yesterday that it was banning "advanced robotic devices" from entering the United States, the headlines were all about humanoids. But spying doesn't require legs — and neither does the FCC's robot ban.
The robot ban will sweep up robot vacuum cleaners too, FCC media relations director Katie Gorscak confirms to The Verge.
It's not coming for your existing Roomba, and companies can keep importing and selling already approved ones. But the government claims that future foreign robots pose a national security risk, and even robovac companies are suddenly being asked to commit to US manufacturing.
While the government did include "humanoid robots" and "quadrupeds" among the bots it wants to ban, the ban is far broader than that. It covers almost any new software-controlled robot that travels over the ground, weighs more than 4.4 pounds (including any dock), can perceive its environment, and has wireless connectivity.
By that definition, the FCC is banning future robot lawnmowers, sidewalk delivery robots, and the robots that crate around packages at your local Amazon warehouse, too.
It was already clear from the government's ban announcement that it was thinking about robot vacuums. In the National Security Determination that the FCC is using to justify the ban, the government explicitly calls out my reporting on the incredibly poor security that let one man access 7,000 DJI robovacs around the world.
But like the consumer router ban, the FCC isn't actually targeting companies with poor security. It's targeting basically every robovac company, regardless of their security practices — because basically every robovac is manufactured outside the US.
[...] But again, the government isn't asking these companies any questions about security — not one — to get the waiver that lets them through. The FCC only wants to know where they're designed and made and assembled and tested and influenced, and get a specific commitment to start manufacturing them in the US instead.
Even then, it appears the FCC will simply preference US companies without any new commitments to security or US manufacturing, like it did when it almost immediately let Netgear off the hook — even though Netgear's routers were among those targeted in the Volt Typhoon incident that helped justify the router ban to begin with. Four unnamed sources told Reuters that "the FCC is expected to exempt many non-Chinese suppliers from the restrictions."
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday August 05, @12:48AM (1 child)
Seriously, that line of thinking signals that the author is a living in a fantasy world. Companies don't care about security, they routinely underinvest to do the bare minimum, a lot don't even hit that bare minimum bar. This is not unique to the US, it is a universal thing in the global capitalist market. Asking them about security does diddly squat apart from getting some pre-canned marketing spiel.
Some are even happy to pay the punitive damage after the shit hits the fan because they've worked out it is cheaper to do so that to actually maintain an investment in security. Its not specific to robots/robovacs.
That said, not an American, so no particular comments about the actual initiative, but it is definitely interesting to see how this unfolds. As a very entertained observer from the sidelines, this seems to align with the thematic of MAGA, so if anything the dude is quite consistent!
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday August 05, @07:21AM
Trump seems to have adopted the philosophy of Juche [wiktionary.org], the core component of Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, the state ideology of North Korea.
From the Wikipedia article on Juche [wikipedia.org]: