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NYT is portraying this issue as a technology race when it's really just a surveillance infrastructure conflict of interest. Qualcomm and Broadcom make closed s
by Sephr 9y ago
NYT is portraying this issue as a technology race when it's really just a surveillance infrastructure conflict of interest.
Qualcomm and Broadcom make closed source basebands, which are used (backdoors) and abused (zero-day exploitation) for spying via wireless ISPs on behalf of their respective parent governments.
If Broadcom acquires Qualcomm, it may become easier for some governments to locate firmware vulnerabilities which can either be fixed to prevent U.S. surveillance or exploited to expand local surveillance powers.
- chapill 9y agoI found this pcmag link more enlightening than the NYT article. https://www.pcmag.com/news/359702/us-broadcom-qualcomm-merger-may-pose-national-security-risk https://www.pcmag.com/news/359702/us-broadcom-qualcomm-merge... Specifically, the last paragraph, "Broadcomm added that most of its board of directors and senior management team is made up of Americans. It also contends that the company's plan to buy Qualcomm will no longer fall under CFIUS's review when Broadcom finishes relocating to the US." It seems CFIUS wants solid assurance that this happens so the US can continue scooping up all the communications of everyone world wide. The US government didn't appoint Qualcomm winner of the LTE market with IP protections just to let them sell it off to a company outside US control.