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Mouser 'Export review'
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rteodor:
A few years I had a basic export control training (I had to even if I did not work directly with clients).
I have to say it is scary how much happens in this area behind public scrutiny. And this is for a variety of reasons, first of all being that things are not stable nor fully known even for those that made gray hair in this area. People dealing with it mostly have to figure out things on the way and while they are doing this things are changing again.

Another reason is unclear regulation. An example related to this is bank accounts: banks do check accounts against a watch list every midnight. The regulators do not require this, they merely specify that banks must have 'due process' for checking for terorist activity. Somehow the banks arrived at a solution of buying the "World list" (that leaked a few years ago) from a company in Australia that compiled it from a variety of sources. When it leaked it was found out that there was no oversight and no process. Anyone who was put on this list was financially obliterated.

The banks list is related to this one: to check some client I would have to check among other things if and what bank account was presented. A "proper" bank account would indicate that the client was checked against that list. If this "export control" happens at Mouser/DK/etc. and payment is possible means things changed again and more things are taken into consideration for individual clients. To this, I can only recommend to use a "clean" email address and payment method. What "clean" means you and I would only speculate. I would say "digital hygiene" but who knows what happens deep inside?!

SiliconWizard:
Well as I said before, if anyone finds discriminating against a person's name ever acceptable, in any circumstance and without further evidence of guilt of anything, I'd be curious to hear them. That's completely nuts.
Monkeh:

--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on January 01, 2024, 02:25:01 am ---Well as I said before, if anyone finds discriminating against a person's name ever acceptable, in any circumstance and without further evidence of guilt of anything, I'd be curious to hear them. That's completely nuts.

--- End quote ---

You only have to be at the gate of any flight to the US and listen to the names being called to the desk for further checks..
Infraviolet:
Discriminating one name is not only unacceptable, it is stupid. If some foreign dictator with a well known name were buying things, does anyone really think they'd do so under their own name? Someone who shares a name with some global villain of the day is therefore perhaps the least likely customer to actually be that villain. Not that, frankly, it is any business of a company to refuse to provide orders even if they genuinely are addressed to a villain, the principle of free trade should transcend governmental rivalries.
rteodor:
Keep this in mind: no business wants to loose even a few customers. But they may loose a few in order not to loose fast tracking custom privileges for example. Which in turn would loose a lot of customers or the entire business. What would happen if Mouser orders would usually take a month or more to clear customs instead of a few days ? they would loose their business.

That is what these companies are forced to choose: lose a few customers or loose their administrative privileges that make them competitive, huge fines and even prison time. Yes, you heard it right: someone in a company could go to prison if a wrong sale or even wrong knowledge is passed to the wrong entity. This is why I had to take that export control training even if I did not needed it: the company wanted to be very clear about the consequences on their business and wanted to absolutely take no risk.

So now it is apparent that Mouser did a wrong job at selecting what customers to loose based on the name. Well, in today's world it is so hard to say what conditions triggered that refuse. And based on what I know it is hardly that the name was the sole reason. Speculations: it is so very possible that that guy sold some equipment on ebay to the wrong person. Then his email address ended in some database that Mouser uses to purge liable customers. And that database may be compiled by another company contracted by Mouser. Or he has someone on whatsapp contact list that the government does not like. Or he paid the wrong person that is of origin in some sanctioned country. It is impossible to say (for the reasons said 4 posts above). So we argue as kids in the schoolyard on silly reasons.
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