WORLDTECHFCC uses new power to block two gadgets over foreign surveillance chips
The FCC has begun exercising a power it granted itself, according to a report by The Verge. The agency claims two gadgets contain what it calls foreign surveillance chips.
New power reaches any listed chipmaker
On October 13, Brendan Carr's FCC gave itself the authority to block gadgets that contain any computer chip made by a company on its list of potential threats to national security. Because the power is tied to the chipmaker, not to any one product, it can apply to any device that includes a chip from a listed firm.
Two devices blocked in first use
The Verge reports that the agency is now using this authority for the first time, blocking two gadgets. According to the FCC's own account, both devices contain foreign surveillance chips. The available facts do not name the devices, their makers or the chips involved, so the claim rests on the agency's assertion.
Open questions
- Which two gadgets has the FCC blocked, and who makes them?
- Which companies appear on the FCC's list of potential national security threats?