There will be plenty to discuss if it actually happens, but in the meantime this is just a leak of a possible announcement. That's not substantive and therefore it's off topic here.<p>"We might make an announcement" is even weaker than "We will make an announcement", a gold standard of weakness to begin with.<p>Notice the words 'some', 'likely', and 'but' in the first sentence. This article walks back its own headline,
like the previous one (<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14311073" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14311073</a>).
Wait, what? We're putting laptops in luggage because we're afraid that they are bombs. But laptops stored closely together in luggage with pressure changes can explode..and we don't know how to handle that.<p>In the name of safety we're introducing a restriction that makes people and airplanes less safe!
We have offices in Europe and US. While today we travel multiple times a quarter between the offices, I can see how people will not want to cross US borders no more than once a year. I also wonder how this (plus all the shenanigans on borders control, immigrations restrictions, etc) will affect budget and headcount allocations for international companies.
I think we will see an expansion of companies building R&D centers abroad and call it a day.
This is guaranteed to piss off the business community.<p>I can think of two possible reasons:<p>1- The administration is trying to distract people from the Comey scandal<p>2- The administration expects the current ban to be challenged in court and defeated, so they are expanding it to include non-Muslim countries<p>We live in interesting times.
Yeah... no. I've had a laptop stolen out of checked-in luggage together with other valuables. Seems like the US really doesn't want to be visited by anybody anymore.
> <i>DHS spokesman Dave Lapan said Kelly "hasn't made a decision but we continue to evaluate the threat environment and have engaged in discussions with airline representatives and other stakeholders about the threat."</i><p>So, our homeland security department has acknowledged that there is a threat and will discuss it with the airlines. This has been transformed into "likely" by the writer, and the "some EU" countries part has been expanded to "Europe" in the headline. This is why I'm skeptical about so many things I read in the news.
<i>> On the operational side, measures such as stopping online check-in for U.S. bound flights or ensuring U.S. flights depart from a dedicated part of terminals are among ideas being mulled, although no decisions have yet been taken.</i><p>How would stopping online check-in help with laptops? Wouldn't a laptop ban be enforced during security screening of hand luggage?
Flying to North America from Europe? Please fly to Canada first and enjoy using your laptop onboard. Then take a short hop to your US destination on which you can also use your laptop since your flight originated in Canada.
Sounds like a detection technology problem. The article says it is very difficult to tell the difference between dense items on X-ray (i.e. battery v. plastic explosive). Anyone have suggestions for the TSA on better scanning technology?
DHS has already made it clear that you don't want to enter the USA with any electronics if you value your privacy so perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.<p>It reminds me of the pathetic pack of attorneys general who shutdown Backpage and Craigslist's hookup page, simply making it harder to find and intervene in human trafficking. DHS is simply making it <i>harder</i> for them to find bad guys. As if that were their goal.