chebe / Shhh Earl

227 Followers
198 Following
10.7K Posts

Languages: English (Ireland) and Irish (a little) / Béarla agus Gaeilge (beagán)

Pronouns: they/their, she/her.

Incapable of small talk. Feminist. Queer. Hopepunk.

Often part of 'Irish Embassy' at camping events.

*Probably posts too much*

bloghttps://chebe.dreamwidth.org/profile
pixelfedhttps://pixelfed.ie/chebe
peertubehttps://makertube.net/a/chebe/video-channels
where to find mehttps://wheretofind.me/@chebe

Whoa, that escalated quickly. This just got sent out by the press folks at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC says it has decided that all foreign-made consumer-grade Internet routers are henceforth prohibited from receiving FCC authorization and are therefore prohibited from being imported for use or sale in the United States.

"Update Follows Determination by Executive Branch Agencies that Consumer-Grade Routers Produced in Foreign Countries Threaten National Security

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2026—Today, the Federal Communications Commission updated its Covered List to include all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries. Routers are the boxes in every home that connect computers, phones, and smart devices to the internet. This followed a determination by a White House-convened Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate national security expertise that such routers “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.”

"The Executive Branch determination noted that foreign-produced routers (1) introduce “a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense” and (2) pose “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. persons.”

"This action does not affect any previously-purchased consumer-grade routers. Consumers can continue to use any router they have already lawfully purchased or acquired."

"Producers of consumer-grade routers that receive Conditional Approval from DoW or DHS can continue to receive FCC equipment authorizations. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit applications to [email protected]."

Not sure how many consumer-grade routers will be left for sale if it really is a ban on approvals for any foreign-made consumer routers like they said, and not just a bunch of already restricted Chinese makers like Huawei and ZTE.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-updates-covered-list-include-foreign-made-consumer-routers

FCC's "covered list" of "thou shalt not entities": https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist

In Cuba it's US$10 per litre. When available at all.
Fun random fact of the day: Spar (the supermarket chain) is Dutch. Its name means "spruce", a coniferous tree. This also i spired the logo.
However, its name comes from much earlier, when it was called "de spar" ("de" being Dutch for "the"). Besides meqning "the spruce", it also was an acronym for "Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig" : "through united collaboration everybody profits regularly". Yes, it is as clunky in Dutch as it is in English, but what do you expect from a name from 1932.
And what kind of postal systems breaks 'return to sender'?!

Now they've come back to tell me that they don't have the ability to change the address.

I have legitimately asked them then, what happens next? Does the parcel bounce around England forever?

The `left-pad` incident was 10 years ago today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident

Thankfully, we've completely solved software supply chains in the years since.
npm left-pad incident - Wikipedia

It's not like the parcel is lost. It's being scanned constantly. Why can't it raise an alarm, like at automated checkouts, to get a human to go intervene. It's a fundamentally flawed system.

I emailed, asking for an ETA days ago. They've just replied, it's out for delivery, so 9pm.

!!?!?!?!?!!?!!?!!!

Meanwhile tracking says it has once again experienced a sortation delay, in LONDON.

For people who are concerned about having their devices seized at US airports starting Monday when ICE "assists" the TSA, EFF has this guide: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/journalist-security-checklist-preparing-devices-travel-through-us-border
A Journalist Security Checklist: Preparing Devices for Travel Through a US Border

We wrote this checklist to help journalists prepare for transit through a U.S. port of entry while preserving the confidentiality of your most sensitive information, such as unpublished reporting materials or source contact information. It’s important to think about your strategy in advance, and begin planning which options in this checklist make sense for you.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Seriously. How is one supposed to work until the midnight hour without internet?