News US may ban import of HDDs

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/10/12/us_may_ban_import_of_hdds/1

The International Trade Commission is investigating patent infringements in the manufacture of HDDs. The result could be a ban on hard drive imports for some brands.

 

I will be very surprised if the ban happens.
Or is this October Fools day.

 

they prolly just gonna fine them if found guilty... after all.. the us government needs to make up for the cost of the war in iraq....

 

this will only mean higher prices for a short amount of time i dont see any real issue here

what patent did they infringe upon?

 

I sure the hell hope it doesn't happen. My company can't afford to pay any more for parts than we already do.

 

considering how much the gov. depends on hard drives as much as the rest of us, I don't see this happening. maybe a fine and a turnover of any bans as being "against the interests of national security"

 

If there's a shortfall of HDD's in America, the government will just seize them under the Patriot act

 

I was actually thinking about this as well !!!
Could it be something to do with its platter technology.

Also, does this only apply to 3.5inc HDD or 2.5” HDD’s as well!

Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard.

Dell and HP – I did not know they manufactured HDD’s!

Then how will this affect Sony PSP and MS Xbox.

 

Guess it's time to stock up on hard drives

 

geez some people just have to much time to sit and look for
things to whine about .the people that started this lawsuit must
have something to gain.

 

god im glad i am in the uk! sounds like a load of BS!

 

I don't really see this one sticking somehow, imagine the chaos it would cause.

 

I've got an old Hewlett-Packard 15K RPM SCSI drive, but I don't know more than that. Not heard of Dell making HDDs themselves, but chances are they rebadge some of the ones they use, and that's why they're getting sued. Why not Samsung as well, though? I understand why not Maxtor, as they've been part of Seagate for a while now...

 

"The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Steven F. Reiber and Mary L. Reiber, of Lincoln, Calif., and specifically concerns dissipative ceramic bonding tips used in making the hard drives."

patents here http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6354479.html
and here http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6935548.html

sounds like it applies to more than just harddrives

 

Those 2 patents don't refer to technology that is actually in a HDD, just tools for manufacturing, unless I'm reading them wrong.

 

All the HP (well, actually Compaq) drives i have seen so far have been made by someone else. I have a drive here from Compaq that says "manufactured by IBM". I also have a drive from about the same time that is from IBM, that says "manufactured for IBM by Seagate"...

Now days IBM drives are the same as Hitachi IIRC. And Maxtor is a part of Seagate.

I guess that leaves us with Seagate, Hitachi and Western Digital. (unsure what Toshiba actually is, though..)

 

wont stick.....

 

Meh, the companies already know and Im sure at this very moment redesigning or replacing the tech in question to something else to skate around it.

But, I would seriously doubt they would institute a ban on hard drive imports that would otherwise cripple major and minor PC manufacturers in the US.

 

Just imagine the sudden increase in data off shoring, I doubt india would be able to keep up, google alone must need loads of disk a month.

 

lol well this is certainly interesting so what worse case situation is I have to buy by hdds over seas and have them shipped to the US? if they cant be sold state side anymore, hmm well I doubt this will happen isnt there some kind of grandfather clause or something because they have been operating for so long in this country already and have so much in twined with them?