XBEE modules are now "Dual Use" and export controlled - WTF? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2010, 06:03:39 pm
content: Just ordered some XBEE modules from Mouser and Farnell - Mouser sent me an export control form mentioning encryption & the Farnell delivery note mentions export controls & not re-exporting etc.....This is definitely a recent change - I wonder if either Digi have addded encryption on one of their modules and hence now all are covered by export control, or someone found an XBEE in an IED....?Muppets.

author: tecman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2010, 06:23:43 pm
content: I am not super familiar with XBEE, but reading there is either encryption or ability to encrypt the data. This falls under the export controls requirements. There may also be other factors that come into play as well. Just do a little "light" reading at the attached link:http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/ear_data.htmlI have to be weary of this crap on a regular basis in my work. Lots of fun.paul

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2010, 09:55:33 pm
content: ..but this is a very recent thing - I've bought the exact same modules plenty of times in the past with no mention of this!

author: KTP
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2010, 10:12:39 pm
content: I wonder at all of this export control over encryption. What is the big secret? Memory is so cheap I could create a secure encryption scheme just by generating a bunch of "one time pad" pages of random binary numbers and xor them with my data (with the other end also having the same pages in memory, xor to decode.) Unbreakable. Cheap. A four year old could program it. But kind of bad if you somehow manage to randomly generate only 0s or 1s due to some really bad luck :-)

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2010, 10:35:02 pm
content: Quote from: KTP on September 30, 2010, 10:12:39 pmTwo words : key distribution. Getting your key to the far end is the big problem, only relatively recently solved.

author: tecman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2010, 08:41:12 pm
content: Quote from: KTP on September 30, 2010, 10:12:39 pmIt is ironic, that some foreign bad guy can buy a PC that has tons more power and capability for encryption, etc. Put something in a chip or module and it is controlled. Even CPUs, Flash memory and other semi-common things in our society are controlled. Some of the controllers that I have designed, are built in Germany and shipped to the US. We can not ship them to certain countries, although our German division can. They do not do anything secret, but they have too much on-board flash that puts them in the "controlled" category.paul

author: johnboxall
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 03, 2010, 01:54:14 am
content: The US Export Controls over these types of hardware are useless and a waste of time. If someone from Libya, Iran, DPRK, etc., wants some XBees or an export-restricted flash drive, or other restricted items - they could just get one of their local people in the US to buy it and send it back home using the "Diplomatic Bag" system.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2010, 09:48:27 am
content: Lots of the said hardware is made in China anyway, which isn't far from North Korea.

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2010, 01:34:03 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on October 03, 2010, 09:48:27 ama lot of that production could have been kept here in the US if they didn't make so difficult/expensive to conduct manufacturing/business.its common sense, if you consume more than you produce, you're never going to have a surplus. America consumes more than it produces. our government wants to hold our hands while putting our nuts in vise and then wonders why the economy remains in the toilet.people are going to do bad things regardless of availability of US consumer technologies. making everyone jump through hoops to conduct business will not thwart those who wish to do us harm. it will, however, be completely counterproductive for our nations economic situation. stoopid!-sj

author: scrat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2010, 11:02:44 am
content: I always found really hilarious the fact that some semiconductor companies (AD for example) ask you if you're going to put your sample into a nuclear or a missile plant! That's only a way to wash they're hands with respect to the risk their devices come into the wrong hands, which I think is really impossible without heavily limitating good people's freedom.Quote from: sonicj on October 05, 2010, 01:34:03 amThe same is for Europe

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2010, 11:05:20 am
content: Quote from: sonicj on October 05, 2010, 01:34:03 amAre you talking about exports vs imports? Not necessarily true: imports can exceed exports and the economy can still grow sustainably but that's a different discussion.The trouble is, everything is made in other countries so export law is hard to control. Suppose XBEEs are made in China. If the North Korean government can't stop imports of cheap transistor radios which their citizens use to listen to South Korean radio on then how can the Chinese stop XBEEs from going to North Korea or anywhere else?