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Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

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Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#41

Post by [deleted] »

maxharris wrote: post #21
chapill wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's rather odd watching the same group that wants Net Neutrality and municipal broadband disagree with you. Trump's nationalized 5G idea is brilliant in that it consolidates all efforts, but also serves to protect freedom. Under the privatized approach we use now, wireless ISPs spy on us, and sell the data to the government. That's constitutional and legal, because the government didn't do the spying. Under a nation…

No, and we have the most extensive highway system in the world. That extensive highway system has destroyed communities, alienated us from one another. It destroyed passenger rail (air travel took the high-end of the market, to be sure, but what business does the government have in using taxpayer money to destroy an entire industry?) If you were a person of color in the 1950s, highways likely destroyed the places you…

[deleted]

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#42

Post by petecox »

wtallis wrote: post #28
petecox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is curious that Qualcomm continues to develop their own closed source driver instead of throwing their weight behind Rob Clark's Freedreno initiative. Broadcom at least pay someone to develop a FOSS driver for the VideoCore IV and V, as found in the rPi.

The situation has historically been the exact opposite for WiFi drivers, where Broadcom is the obstinate closed-source vendor and Qualcomm-Atheros is the most open-source friendly vendor in that market.

Interesting times for upstream Linux support; Qualcomm also hopes to acquire NXP - the chipmakers inside the etnaviv-driven Purism phone.

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#43

Post by Larrikin »

mobilefriendly wrote: post #39
ajdlinux wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good freight rail and good passenger rail seem to be more or less mutually exclusive. Japan has one of the lowest rates of freight rail usage in the world, and yet the Shinkansen and the extensive urban metros and suburban railways with their absurdly high schedule reliability are basically an element of national identity...

No, it is all policy-driven. Japan's passenger rail companies are private businesses. The U.S. used to have the finest passenger rail too. But then the feds subsidized interstates, which collapsed U.S. passenger rail in the 1960s, and in turn nationalized the private companies into Amtrak. So the government killed the opportunity to reinvent U.S. passenger rail. Amtrak is a disaster, it is grossly undercapitalized an…

Nearly all of the Japanese rail system was created directly through the government. Everything JR was once owned by the national government. Even as "private" companies the major subway companies in Tokyo are partnerships between the national and Tokyo government.

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#44

Post by tooltalk »

maxander wrote: post #29
thinkloop wrote: post #15

> "There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Ltd." by acquiring Qualcomm "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," Trump said in the order released Monday evening in Washington. > The government said it feared Broadcom would cut investment in research and development in order to increase short-term profits. That could allow Chinese companies to be…

I suspect the issue is that, if whole classes of chips that are important for military purposes (wireless communications, for example) are made exclusively by China, they could put in backdoors and other traps that would compromise U.S. military hardware. I haven't seen anyone discuss this angle openly, though, so either I'm off base somehow or it's not something the U.S. wants to loudly discuss (because they're like…

Nobody is looking at it from that angle because Broadcomm is not a Chinese company. So, yes, you are way off on this. The Trump admin is essentially running on exophobia to push all their trade policies (eg, steel tariff where Canada and Mexico are the top exporters.

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#45

Post by Techonomicon »

jopsen wrote: post #10
Analemma_ wrote: post #5

This is the right decision, but is it normal for M&As to be blocked by executive order rather than by a DOJ decision, or is this a Trump thing?

> Trump acted on a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Seems legit. I know we all love to bash Trump, but he might not be entirely evil. Sometimes he's not treated fairly, that said it's all well deserved that's for sure :)

Just because he happens across doing something "good" once in a while doesn't mean he's not completely evil man.

It's everyone's birthday once a year.

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#46

Post by thinkloop »

maxander wrote: post #29
thinkloop wrote: post #15

> "There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Ltd." by acquiring Qualcomm "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," Trump said in the order released Monday evening in Washington. > The government said it feared Broadcom would cut investment in research and development in order to increase short-term profits. That could allow Chinese companies to be…

I suspect the issue is that, if whole classes of chips that are important for military purposes (wireless communications, for example) are made exclusively by China, they could put in backdoors and other traps that would compromise U.S. military hardware. I haven't seen anyone discuss this angle openly, though, so either I'm off base somehow or it's not something the U.S. wants to loudly discuss (because they're like…

That's a fair angle, but no need to "suspect", the reason has been provided: simply that it threatens being #1.

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#47

Post by kyrra »

tlb wrote: post #8
Analemma_ wrote: post #5

This is the right decision, but is it normal for M&As to be blocked by executive order rather than by a DOJ decision, or is this a Trump thing?

It has happened 4 times before, once by the current administration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Foreign_Investmen...

My previous employer (Sourcefire) was blocked from being bought by Checkpoint by CFIUS. Though the president didn't sign an order, the deal got a lot of scrutiny and likely would have been blocked.

https://www.securityfocus.com/news/11382

I wonder how many cases there were like this.

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#48

Post by dmode »

jopsen wrote: post #10
Analemma_ wrote: post #5

This is the right decision, but is it normal for M&As to be blocked by executive order rather than by a DOJ decision, or is this a Trump thing?

> Trump acted on a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Seems legit. I know we all love to bash Trump, but he might not be entirely evil. Sometimes he's not treated fairly, that said it's all well deserved that's for sure :)

Trump is completely devoid of ethics and morals. He had sex with a pornstar when his wife was pregnant. As a father, when my wife was pregnant that was the most surreal time of my life, where every moment of my life was precious to spend with my wife. Trump is that guy who cheats on a pregnant wife. Now evaluate this decision on these parameters and I am sure we will soon find out that this decision was funded by a campaign donation from one of the opponents of this deals

Re: Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm

#49

Post by TallGuyShort »

dmode wrote: post #40

What nonsense. Now any unilateral measures can be imposed in the name of “national security”.

If national security doesn't work, interstate commerce has been working pretty well for both parties whenever it suits them too.
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