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The South Korean government (owned by Samsung) has been blocking and putting up barriers to foreign phones for years, including delaying the introduction of the

by v0cab 14y ago

The South Korean government (owned by Samsung) has been blocking and putting up barriers to foreign phones for years, including delaying the introduction of the iPhone to South Korea, to give Samsung and co. a chance to develop competitors. I'm glad to see the US government blocking a South Korean product for once, if that is indeed what is happening.

kitsune_ 14y ago
Where is the evidence that South Korea has blocked foreign phones? I can do the work for you, South Korea for instance banned the sale of games inside the app store for a long time. I have a hard time finding examples where South Korea outright banned phones however. Even if they did, why would you want the US to follow such bad examples. These policies are not healthy in the long term for a variety of reasons. South Korea is a rather protectionist country, and drawing a line between the Chaebols (Huge conglomerates such as Samsung) and the government is often hard. By the way, this is not surprising considering South Korea was a US-backed and sponsored military dictatorship for a long time. However, the iPhone 3GS launched in South Korea 3 to 4 months after its introduction to Europe and the US. Nokia was active there for years. Last time I was in Seoul, the new iPad launched to great fanfare.
- v0cab 14y ago
  I mean that the phones were blocked for a while, before they were allowed. I'm not American, but still I wouldn't mind seeing these South Korean chaebols get a taste of their own medicine. Protectionism may reduce the overall efficiency of a system, but can be good for the individual actors within that system who implement it. I think Americans are more interested in their livelihoods than in the efficiency of world production. In fact total efficiency should never be our goal; that would make slaves of us all. The original iPhone was blocked from South Korea for quite a while. Here's more info on South Korean protectionism in relation to phones: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125367616595333125.html?mod=djemalertTECH http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125367616595333125.html?mod=...

by v0cab 14y ago

kitsune_ 14y ago

Where is the evidence that South Korea has blocked foreign phones? I can do the work for you, South Korea for instance banned the sale of games inside the app store for a long time. I have a hard time finding examples where South Korea outright banned phones however. Even if they did, why would you want the US to follow such bad examples. These policies are not healthy in the long term for a variety of reasons. South Korea is a rather protectionist country, and drawing a line between the Chaebols (Huge conglomerates such as Samsung) and the government is often hard. By the way, this is not surprising considering South Korea was a US-backed and sponsored military dictatorship for a long time. However, the iPhone 3GS launched in South Korea 3 to 4 months after its introduction to Europe and the US. Nokia was active there for years. Last time I was in Seoul, the new iPad launched to great fanfare.

v0cab 14y ago
I mean that the phones were blocked for a while, before they were allowed. I'm not American, but still I wouldn't mind seeing these South Korean chaebols get a taste of their own medicine. Protectionism may reduce the overall efficiency of a system, but can be good for the individual actors within that system who implement it. I think Americans are more interested in their livelihoods than in the efficiency of world production. In fact total efficiency should never be our goal; that would make slaves of us all. The original iPhone was blocked from South Korea for quite a while. Here's more info on South Korean protectionism in relation to phones: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125367616595333125.html?mod=djemalertTECH http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125367616595333125.html?mod=...