Stuff you are not allowed to own. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:24:24 am
content: The following are a few of the items that caught my eye in the WA List (Wasenaar Arrangement for export restriction and non proliferation) WA is like ITAR except even Russia (and 40 other countries) agree you shouldn't be allowed to own the following:Presumably such items or close equivalents do exist:1 - Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC) integrated circuits, as follows:a. ADCs having any of the following:1. A resolution of8 bitor more, but less than 10 bit, with an output rate greater than 1billion words per second;2. A resolution of10 bitor more, but less than 12 bit, with an output rate greater than500 million words per second;3. A resolution of12 bitor more, but less than 14 bit, with an output rate greater than200 million words per second;4. A resolution of14 bitor more, but less than 16 bit, with an output rate greater than250 million words per second; or5. A resolution of16 bitor more with an output rate greater than65 million words per second;2 - Digital-to-Analogue Converters (DAC) having any of the following:1. A resolution of10 bitor more with an 'adjusted update rate of greater than3,500 MSPS; or2. A resolution of12 bitor more with an 'adjusted update rate of greater than1,250 MSPSand having any of the following:a. Asettling timeless than9 nsto 0.024% of full scale from a full scale step; orb. A 'Spurious Free Dynamic Range' (SFDR) greater than68 dBc(carrier) when synthesizing a full scale analogue signal of 100 MHz or the highest full scale analogue signal frequency specified below 100 MHz;3 - Field programmable logic devices (FPGA) having any of the following:a. A maximum number of single-ended digital input/outputsof greater than700; orb. An 'aggregate one-way peak serial transceiver data rate' of500 Gb/sor greater;4 -Neural networkintegrated circuits;5 - Custom integrated circuits for which the function is unknown, or the status of the equipment in which the integrated circuits will be used is unknown to the manufacturer, having any of the following:a. More than1,500 terminals;b. A typical "basic gate propagation delay time" of less than0.02 ns; orc. An operating frequency exceeding3 GHz;6 - Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processors having a rated execution time for an N-point complex FFT of less than(N log 2 N)/20,480 ms,where N is the number of points;7 - Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) integrated circuits having any of the following:a. A Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC) clock frequency of3.5 GHzor more and a DAC resolution of10 bitor more, but less than 12 bit; orb. A DAC clock frequency of1.25 GHzor more and a DAC resolution of12 bitor more;8 -Travelling Wave Tubesoperating at frequencies exceeding31.8 GHz;- Tubes having a cathode heater element with a turn on time to rated RF power of less than 3 seconds;-Coupled cavity tubes, or derivatives thereof, with a "fractional bandwidth" of more than 7% or a peak power exceeding2.5 kW;-Helix tubes, or derivatives thereof, having any of the following:a. An "instantaneous bandwidth" of more than one octave,and average power (expressed in kW) times frequency (expressed in GHz) of more than 0.5;b. An "instantaneous bandwidth" of one octave or less, and average power (expressed in kW) times frequency (expressed in GHz) of more than 1; orc. Being "space-qualified";-Crossed-field amplifier tubeswith a gain of more than 17 dB;-Impregnated cathodesdesigned for electronic tubes producing a continuous emission current density at rated operating conditionsexceeding 5 A/cm2;9 - Microwave "Monolithic Integrated Circuits" and Discrete microwave transistors operating from6GHz to 90GHzand delivering significant power.10 -Oscillatorsor oscillator assemblies, specified to operate with a single sideband (SSB) phase noise, in Bc/Hz, less (better) than -(126 + 20log 10 F - 20log 10 f)anywhere within the range of10 Hz ? F ? 10 kHz;11 - "Frequency synthesizer" "electronic assemblies" having a "frequency switching time" as specified by any of the following:a. Less than 156 ps;b. Less than 100 ?s for any frequency change exceeding 1.6 GHzwithin the synthesized frequency range exceeding 4.8 GHz but not exceeding 10.6 GHz;c. Less than 250 ?s for any frequency change exceeding 550 MHz within the synthesized frequency range exceeding 10.6 GHz but not exceeding 31.8 GHz;d. Less than 500 ?s for any frequency change exceeding 550 MHz within the synthesized frequency range exceeding 31.8 GHz but not exceeding 43.5 GHz;e. Less than 1 ms for any frequency change exceeding 550 MHz within the synthesized frequency range exceeding 43.5 GHz but not exceeding 56 GHz;f. Less than 1 ms for any frequency change exceeding 2.2 GHz within the synthesized frequency range exceeding 56 GHz but not exceeding 90 GHz; org. Less than1 mswithin the synthesized frequency range exceeding90 GHz12 -Acoustic wave devicesas follows and specially designed components therefor:1. Surface acoustic wave and surface skimming (shallow bulk) acoustic wave devices, having any of the following:a. A carrier frequency exceeding6 GHz;b. A carrier frequency exceeding 1 GHz, but not exceeding 6 GHz and having any of the following:1. A 'frequency side-lobe rejection' exceeding 65 dB;2. A product of the maximum delay time and the bandwidth (time in ?s and bandwidth in MHz) of more than 100;3. A bandwidth greater than 250 MHz; or4. A dispersive delay of more than 10 ?s; orc. A carrier frequency of 1 GHz or less and having any of the following:1. A product of the maximum delay time and the bandwidth (time in ?s and bandwidth in MHz) of more than 100;2. A dispersive delay of more than 10 ?s; or3. A 'frequency side-lobe rejection' exceeding 65 dB and a bandwidth greater than 100 MHz;2.Bulk (volume) acoustic wave deviceswhich permit thedirect processing of signals at frequencies exceeding 6 GHz;3.Acoustic-optic "signal processing"devices employinginteraction between acoustic waves (bulk wave or surface wave) and light waveswhich permit thedirect processing of signals or images, including spectral analysis, correlation or convolution;13 - Electronic devices and circuits containing components, manufactured from"superconductive"materials,14 - High energy devices as follows:1. 'Cells' as follows:a.'Primary cells'having an 'energy density' exceeding550 Wh/kgat 20°C;b.'Secondary cells'having an 'energy density' exceeding350 Wh/kgat 20°C;High energy storage capacitors as follows:a.Capacitorswith a repetition rate of less than 10 Hz (single shot capacitors) and having all of the following:1. A voltage rating equal to or more than 5 kV;2. An energy density equal to or more than 250 J/kg; and3. A total energy equal to or more than 25 kJ;b.Capacitorswith a repetition rate of 10 Hz or more (repetition rated capacitors) and having all of the following:1. A voltage rating equal to or more than 5 kV;2. An energy density equal to or more than 50 J/kg;3. A total energy equal to or more than 100 J; and4. A charge/discharge cycle life equal to or more than 10,000;15 - Rotary input typeabsolute position encodershaving an "accuracy" equal to or less (better) than1.0 second of arc;16 -Digital data recordershaving all of the following:a. A sustained 'continuous throughput' of more than6.4 Gbit/s to diskor solid-state drive memory; andb. A processor that performsanalysis of radio frequency signal data while it is being recorded;

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:26:18 am
content: 17 -Real-time oscilloscopeshaving a vertical root-mean-square (rms) noise voltage of less than2%of full-scale at the vertical scale setting that provides the lowest noise value for any input3dB bandwidth of 60 GHzor greater per channel;18 - "Signal analysers" as follows:1. "Signal analysers" having a 3 dB resolution bandwidth (RBW) exceeding 10 MHz anywhere within the frequency range exceeding 31.8 GHz but not exceeding 37 GHz;2. "Signal analysers" having Displayed Average Noise Level (DANL) less (better) than –150 dBm/Hz anywhere within the frequency rangeexceeding 43.5 GHz but not exceeding 90 GHz;3. "Signal analysers" having a frequency exceeding90 GHz;4. "Signal analysers" having all of the following:a."Real-time bandwidth" exceeding 170 MHz; andb.100% probability of discoverywith less than a 3 dB reduction from full amplitude due to gaps or windowing effects of signals having a duration of15 ?sor less;"Signal analysers" having a "frequency mask trigger" function with 100% probability of trigger (capture) for signals having a duration of 15 ?s or less;19 -Signal generatorshaving any of the following:1. Specified to generate pulse-modulated signals having all of the following, anywhere within the frequency range exceeding 31.8 GHzbut not exceeding 37 GHz:a. 'Pulse duration' of less than 25 ns; andb. On/off ratio equal to or exceeding 65 dB;2. An output power exceeding 100 mW (20 dBm) anywhere within the frequency range exceeding 43.5 GHz but not exceeding 90 GHz;3. A "frequency switching time" as specified by any of the following:b. Less than 100 ?s for any frequency change exceeding 2.2 GHz within the frequency range exceeding 4.8 GHz but not exceeding 31.8 GHz;d. Less than 500 ?s for any frequency change exceeding 550 MHz within the frequency range exceeding 31.8 GHz but not exceeding 37 GHz; orLess than 100 ?s for any frequency change exceeding 2.2 GHz within the frequency range exceeding 37 GHz but not exceeding 90 GHz;Single sideband (SSB) phase noise, in dBc/Hz, specified as being anyof the following:a. Less (better) than -(126+20 log 10 F-20 log 10 f) anywhere within the range of 10 Hz ? F ?10 kHz anywhere within the frequencyrange exceeding 3.2 GHz but not exceeding 90 GHz; orb. Less (better) than -(206 - 20log 10 f) anywhere within the range of 10 kHz < F ? 100 kHz anywhere within the frequency range exceeding 3.2 GHz but not exceeding 90 GHz; orA maximum frequency exceeding 90 GHz;20 - Network analysers having any of the following:1. An output power exceeding 31.62 mW (15 dBm) anywhere within the operating frequency range exceeding 43.5 GHz but not exceeding90 GHz;2. An output power exceeding 1 mW (0 dBm) anywhere within the operating frequency range exceeding 90 GHz but not exceeding 110 GHz;3. 'Nonlinear vector measurement functionality' at frequencies exceeding 50 GHz but not exceeding 110 GHz; or4. A maximum operating frequencyexceeding 110 GHz;21 -Microwavetest receivers having all of the following:1. A maximum operating frequency exceeding110 GHz;and2. Being capable of measuringamplitude and phase simultaneously;22 -Atomic frequency standardsbeing any of the following:1. "Space-qualified";2. Non-rubidium and having along-term stability less (better) than 1 x 10 -11 /month; or3. Non-"space-qualified" and having all of the following:a. Being a rubidium standard;b.Long-term stability less (better) than 1 x 10 -11 /month; andc.Total power consumption of less than 1 Watt;23 - "Electronic assemblies", modules or equipment, specified to perform all of the following:1. Analogue-to-digital conversions meeting any of the following:a. A resolution of8 bitor more, but less than 10 bit, with an input sample rate greater than1.3 billion samples per second;b. A resolution of10 bitor more, but less than 12 bit, with an input sample rate greater than1.0 billion samples per second;c. A resolution of12 bitor more, but less than 14 bit, with an input sample rate greater than1.0 billion samples per second;d. A resolution of14 bitor more but less than 16 bit, with an input sample rate greater than400 million samples per second; ore. A resolution of16 bitor more with an input sample rate greater than180 million samples per second; and2. Any of the following:a. Output of digitized data;b. Storage of digitized data; orc. Processing of digitized data;24-Spray cooling thermal managementsystems employing closed loop fluid handling and reconditioning equipment in a sealed enclosure where a dielectric fluid is sprayed onto electronic components using specially designed spray nozzles that are designed to maintain electronic components within their operating temperature range, and specially designed components therefor.25 - Equipment designed forion implantationand having any of the following:2. Being designed and optimized to operate at a beam energy of 20 keV or more and a beam current of 10 mA or more for hydrogen, deuterium or helium implant;3.Direct write capability;4. A beam energy of 65 keV or more and a beam current of 45 mA or more for high energy oxygen implant into a heated semiconductormaterial "substrate"; or5. Being designed and optimized to operate at a beam energy of 20 keV or more and a beam current of 10 mA or more for silicon implant into a semiconductor material "substrate" heated to 600°C or greater;26 - Automatic loading multi-chamber centralwafer handling systemshaving all of the following:1. Interfaces for wafer input and output, to which more than two functionally different 'semiconductor process tools' specified by3.B.1.a.1., 3.B.1.a.2., 3.B.1.a.3. or 3.B.1.b. are designed to be connected; and2. Designed to form anintegrated system in a vacuum environmentfor 'sequential multiple wafer rocessing';27 -Lithography equipmentas follows:1. Align and expose step and repeat (direct step on wafer) or step and scan (scanner) equipment for wafer processing using photo-optical or X-ray methods and having any of the following:a. Alight sourcewavelength shorter than193 nm; orb. Capable of producing a pattern with a 'Minimum Resolvable Feature size' (MRF) of45 nmor less;28 -Imprint lithographyequipment capable of producing features of 45 nm or less;29 - Equipment specially designed formask makinghaving all of the following:a. A deflectedfocused electron beam, ion beam or "laser" beam; andb. Having any of the following:1. A full-width half-maximum (FWHM) spot size smaller than 65 nm and an image placement less than 17 nm (mean + 3 sigma); or3. A second-layer overlay error of less than 23 nm (mean + 3sigma) on the mask;30 - Equipment designed for device processing usingdirect writing methods, having all of the following:a. A deflectedfocused electron beam; andb. Having any of the following:1. A minimum beam size equal to or smaller than15 nm; or2. An overlay error less than27 nm(mean + 3 sigma);31 - Multi-layer masks with a phase shift layer having any of the following:1. Made on a mask "substrate blank" from glass specified as having less than 7 nm/cm birefringence; or2. Designed to be used by lithography equipment having a light source wavelength less than 245 nm;32 -"Systolic array computers"; "Neural computers"; "Optical computers".

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:29:26 am
content: Some of the stuff is quite mundane, like 15 - 1 MOA Rotary Encoders.Others are like alien technology or things I've never heard of.Thought it would be interesting. Sorry for the wall of text.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:35:35 am
content: Thanks. That helps (partially) understand some of the "import/export" restrictions not only on hardware, but software and even information that some of us have to deal with.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:36:59 am
content: Surely it's stuff you're not allowed to export without a license, not prohibited from owning.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:44:11 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on February 26, 2016, 12:36:59 amWell, depending on who you are. There's a difference between having this stuff in your basement shop and playing with it vs. "authorized" use in research, business, industry, military, etc. And even if you did come to find it in the shop, you would probably get a take-down request from some shadowy governmental entity if you posted one of your great tear-down videos of a banned piece of gear.You guys have that over-arching "Official Secrets Act" that lets them shut down whatever they declare "secret". Probably no worse than anywhere else except that yours is visible and explicit.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:52:18 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on February 26, 2016, 12:36:59 amIf you can make it yourself, sure. I don't think you would be able to buy any of these over the counter.For example the reason Intel is not pushing much beyond 3GHz and 1500 pins could be #5. Even if they produced it they know they couldn't export it so the sales would be low. They have a 4GHz chip but it is only 1150 pins.

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 12:53:52 am
content: I have concluded that all of the listed items are the key to building an artificial human (an android) like Data from Star Trek. Think about it... Fast processors, neural networks, tons of IO... Everything you need to build a synthetic sentient being.They're either trying to stop the robot apocalypse *or* they're (the 1%) building a robot army to enslave mankind. Think about it.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 01:09:53 am
content: It's funny to think that something as pedestrian as an HP8590A would've been a huge state secret in 1945, but such was the state of commercial and military technology, the amount of SIGINT you could perform with such an instrument would be devastating to most adversaries.It's the same today, but with higher bandwidths and far more complex encoding (indeed, encrypting) schemes. Hence most of the stuff on the list, such as ADCs/DACs and the DSPs to drive them.The neural networks part is peculiar. Now I want to know what counts as one; is a "single neuron" IC indeed prohibited? I'm not aware that there's still much use of them, and most implementations are in software (which give lots of pretty pictures, and sometimes useful results, but I get the impression most applications are plagued by edge cases failing less than gracefully?). I suppose one built with state of the art fab could run nearly as fast as those DAQ systems, which would be very interesting for real (or nearly real) time countermeasures.Tim

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 01:11:16 am
content: Quote from: HAL-42b on February 26, 2016, 12:52:18 aman ltc2107 is 210MHz 16bit ADC they are available from all the big distributors, if you tried to order and have it shipped tonorth Korea you might have problems but other that you can just buy them

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 01:11:23 am
content: Quote from: timb on February 26, 2016, 12:53:52 amPffbt. Nah.I think if anything, Huxley got it more right than Orwell. If they want to enslave mankind, they won't be creating a robot army -- they'll be inventing the dankest memes ever to hit social media.Tim

author: RobertoLG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 01:58:16 am
content: Quote from: timb on February 26, 2016, 12:53:52 am

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 02:26:16 am
content: I couldn't resist (NSFW):

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 02:44:49 am
content: I have gotten several of these, new, directly from the manufacturer. Not something I can't own. You, perhaps.Then again, in the USA we can own almost anything. Some of the more interesting bits of kit require a $200 license, though.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 02:49:39 am
content: A little something about Systolic Arrayshttps://youtu.be/s6SXj3v-a38?t=1h25m48sSeems like the main application is image processing and convolution. Maybe other things if arranged in 3D form.I wonder if Epiphany Paralella can be considered a Systolic Array.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 03:13:22 am
content: In the above link the lecturer mentions GPUs and how their internals are not open to the programmer. Basically they are hard wired to do one thing only, like lobotomy. Hmm...

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 03:33:03 am
content: In the US most of the ITAR restrictions can be found with a little googling. Some obscure ones are classified and you can violate them unknowingly.There are several broad reasons for the restrictions, reading the publicly available documentation explains them as clearly as any government document explains anything. In general I don't have any problems with these reasons. The intentions are noble. The problem is that many of the restrictions are in areas that are moving rapidly and so the restrictions are laughably obsolete. The US is prevented from exporting equipment that is many years obsolete in the country that you are trying to export to. The pain of the restriction continues long after any benefit to world peace has disappeared into the past. Presumably this problem also applies to the WA restrictions.

author: radar_macgyver
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 07:09:51 am
content: Low phase noise oscillators, high bandwidth (and resolution) data converters, TWTs, DDS, hardware FFTs, SAW filters, fast switching synthesizers, high discharge capacitors, absolute encoders, microwave power transistors, precision frequency standards... Seems like those items are used in radar systems.

author: daqq
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 07:35:46 am
content: QuoteActually, the ADCs are available:http://sk.farnell.com/analog-devices/ad9691bcpz-1250/adc-dual-14bit-1-25gsps-spi-lfcsp88/dp/2505555?categoryId=700000004355&selectedCategoryId=http://sk.farnell.com/analog-devices/ad9129bbcz/digital-to-analog-converter-dac/dp/2294371Also, I'm pretty sure if you combed ebay for a while, you'd find some of the more interesting devices as well.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 09:04:21 am
content: So the CoCom list still lives.I remember the university professor telling everyone, how they sneaked 8086 in diplomatic bags. Then all they had was the bare chip, no pcb, no reference guide for opcodes. They reverse engineered the entire opcode list, and wrote publications...At some point, the US concluded that their silicon manufacturing is some 20 times bigger than the Soviets.And this is why we cant have nice things.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 11:07:10 am
content: You forgot firecrackers.Illegal to own them in Australia. I used to pay 8 cents for a large mat of red crackers. Now they cost $30 per mat from the black market. Bloody do-gooders who tell you how to live have placed our kids in so much cotton wool, the only fun most kids have these days is playing computer games.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 11:16:40 am
content: Quote from: HAL-42b on February 26, 2016, 12:24:24 amAs this is made by a pure capitalist country, also as the in the word "capital=money", and the most of the money currently in China, then why I have the feeling all of these or even higher spec stuffs already owned by China long-long time ago before this list is even created.Everything has a price ...

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 01:28:43 pm
content: Back in the Cold War days, there was a publicity photo that the official Soviet news agency TASS released. It made the newspapers around the world. It showed a group of Soviet engineers with a large 1m scale plot of an EEPROM chip, something in the 8K size at the time. They claimed it was their latest design from their brilliant team of semiconductor experts. But it was exactly the design created by Intel. They had removed the corporate logo, but for some reason they left all the little symbols put in by the mask-layout people. I should have taken a photo of the guys holding the newspaper photo next to the REAL framed plot. It was only one of the more publicized cases of stolen IP that the USSR got caught at.

author: AF6LJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 01:44:32 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on February 26, 2016, 01:11:23 amThe enslavement starts in the public schools.We are fairly far down that road.

author: TAMHAN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 02:50:15 pm
content: My fullest agreement on enslavement. We call it eiapopeia mentality in German, and it sucks bigtime.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 05:14:52 pm
content: So i need to scrap 2 of my scopes as they have faster adc's and processors than on this list ?sod that.

author: Tinkerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 05:22:35 pm
content: Quote from: radar_macgyver on February 26, 2016, 07:09:51 amIn relation to this, there is also RF stuff listed. Makes me think much of this has to do with military applications, radar, various encrypted communication etc. They dont want people to be able to pick up and also break military transmitted encrypted signals.Also, I do think much of that could be applied to AI.

author: strangersound
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 07:37:03 pm
content: True or not, I remember seeing somewhere a few years back that PS2's and such were on that list, because a capable person could modify a string of them together onto a supercomputer.

author: mmagin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 08:56:00 pm
content: At least in the US, from a US distributor, as a US customer, it's my understanding that as long as you're not exporting, you can buy a lot of these things just fine. For example, #9 you will find if you filter in say Digikey's catalog to the higher power RF Fets for microwave use.I've also seen some things on this list sold surplus on ebay, though some of the sellers specializing in that kind of surplus seem to just have a blanket "I don't ship overseas" policy.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2016, 12:31:31 am
content: Quote from: mmagin on February 26, 2016, 08:56:00 pmThat is my understanding too. Although for some items you might have to sign a statement saying that you won't then sell it to someone outside the US (or take it outside US borders).Where it gets weird is that as with all law, ignorance is no excuse. If you ship something on this list outside the US all sorts of evil may rain down on you, even though you didn't know your weren't supposed to and had no evil intentions. That is one reason for the blanket no shipping overseas rules.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2016, 07:27:09 pm
content: Quote from: strangersound on February 26, 2016, 07:37:03 pmThat was PS3 not PS2. It was used as a cheap way to build fairly powerful clusters, including by US Air Force. I think the console ended up on the ITAR list because Iran (I believe) bought a boatload of them at one point and everyone was scared they are going to use them for developing their nukes.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2016, 08:26:41 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on February 27, 2016, 07:27:09 pmSame happened with the PS2 but in regards to Saddam Hussein.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/12/19/iraq_buys_4000_playstation_2s/