NationStates Jolt Archive

I don't think we can argue any more that Congress' blocking of the Dubai Ports World takeover bid for P&O was anti-Arab racism, as it turns out even Israel is apparently a threat to US security - or is security not the issue at all? The security argument in the third paragraph below might seem valid, if it wasn't for the fact that Snort is open source software - anyone can download the source code already (totally anonymously - see http://www.snort.org/got_source/source.html), so a takeover bid has no effect on US security - it's pure protectionism.

A takeover bid by an Israeli firewall firm has become the latest victim of US security protectionism. Check Point Software has dropped its bid for US rival Sourcefire after objections from the FBI and Pentagon were heard by the Treasury's Committee on Foreign Investments.

The Committee has also overseen the recent rumpus surrounding the Dubai carve-up of P&O, which would put Arab business in control of US ports.

Federal agency objections to the security software tie-up centre on the implementation of Sourcefire's anti-intrusion software 'Snort' by the Bureau and Department of Defense, AP reports. In private meetings between the panel and Check Point, FBI and Pentagon officials took exception to letting foreigners acquire the sensitive technology.

One of thses days, our leaders' protectionism and xenophobia will come back to bite us in the ass.

One of thses days, our leaders' protectionism and xenophobia will come back to bite us in the ass.
Agreed and they are fucking the rest of us over

You would think that after the 9/11 comission found that American ports were almost no safer four years later and had been run by American companies throughout that time that giving American companies control does nothing to improve security.

The idiot protectionists forget that we have more control over these deals than we do over American companies. I guess they also forgot all of the ties to organized crime (an organization many times more dangerous and powerful than any terrorist group) that American shipping companies have had.

And this is just more proof of the xenophobia and racism rampant in the hallsof government...

Don't you think their concern was that instead of exploiting a flaw in the software than anyone could the worry was that they'd close the source and instert something into the software for certain customers, like oh the US statedepartment or the DoD. Israel has a history of spying on the US. Fuck'em. They brought it on themselves.

Don't you think their concern was that instead of exploiting a flaw in the software than anyone could the worry was that they'd close the source and instert something into the software for certain customers, like oh the US statedepartment or the DoD. Israel has a history of spying on the US. Fuck'em. They brought it on themselves.

The US has a history of spying on itself.

Don't you think their concern was that instead of exploiting a flaw in the software than anyone could the worry was that they'd close the source and instert something into the software for certain customers, like oh the US statedepartment or the DoD. Israel has a history of spying on the US. Fuck'em. They brought it on themselves.
They are ALREADY closed sourced (by the deffinition but the US gov gets special treatment)

(Someone does not understand how software really works)

There is NO way that the US gov uses any hardware/software that they do not get to thouroughly test and have full access to. I think you under-estimate the ammount of research that goes into picking a vendor

Don't you think their concern was that instead of exploiting a flaw in the software than anyone could the worry was that they'd close the source and instert something into the software for certain customers, like oh the US statedepartment or the DoD. Israel has a history of spying on the US. Fuck'em. They brought it on themselves.
A nice feature of open source licenses is that even if the company that makes the software decides to continue development as a closed source application, anyone can take the existing source and develop the product themselves. In the past when companies have tried to close the source of previously-open-source software, they've found that most of the developers have switched to an open source fork.

Protectionisim is gonna come back and hit the USA real hard

Protectionisim is gonna come back and hit the USA real hard

Especially if Chucky Schumer's China tariff passes...imagine Smoot-Hawley all over again but many, many times worse. Again, a clear sign that the Congress doesn't give a fuck about our economic security.

And in this case the Israeli company wasn't trustworthy enough to aquire Snort.

Re Safalra, while this is true and forks for all kinds of reasons are common, what assurances does the US Government have that this will continue to be the case in this specific circumstance without them having to assume the burden of continuing the development (Mosaic style)?

There's a certain amount of irreversability to this decision. The Israelies are extremely protectionist themselves. The risk is greater than the reward.

Especially if Chucky Schumer's China tariff passes...imagine Smoot-Hawley all over again but many, many times worse. Again, a clear sign that the Congress doesn't give a fuck about our economic security.
Yes yes. Look how much China has suffered for their protectionism. Oh wait....

Yes yes. Look how much China has suffered for their protectionism. Oh wait....

Protectionism slows Chinese growth rather than helps it. Its increasing market liberalization is directly related to its much faster rate of GDP growth and foreign investment. Trade wars are, and always have been a failiure and should not be used by any government with at least some sense.

We buy products from them more than they buy from us; as a result, the price of imported Chinese goods would soar by 27.5% on average which would drastically lower the purchasing power of the average consumer, in particular the low and middle classes. Not to mention the US still does export some 45 billion in goods to China and that amount is growing by 20% per year; they could respond with sanctions and cost us an economic fortune.