Despite hacking charges, U.S. tech industry fought to keep ties to Russia spy serviceFirst thought: TORTURE THEM FOR A TRILLION YEARS AND THEN SHOOT THEM A QUADRILLION TIMES. NO, SKIP THE TORTURE. JUST SHOOT.
As U.S. officials investigated in January the FSB's alleged role in election cyber attacks, U.S. technology firms were quietly lobbying the government to soften a ban on dealing with the Russian spy agency, people with direct knowledge of the effort told Reuters.
New U.S. sanctions put in place by former President Barack Obama last December - part of a broad suite of actions taken in response to Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election - had made it a crime for American companies to have any business relationship with the FSB, or Federal Security Service.
But the sanctions also threatened to imperil the Russian sales operations of Western tech companies. Under a little-understood arrangement, the FSB doubles as a regulator charged with approving the import to Russia of almost all technology that contains encryption, which is used in both sophisticated hardware as well as products like cellphones and laptops.
The current icon shows Polistra using a Personal Equation Machine.