Moderator Comment by Jack Crossfire on February 17, 2009 at 7:05pm

The product in question was a Micropilot autopilot. Harold Hanson bought 20 for $90,000. Obviously not a hobbyist operation. Then he declared the shipment was lost when in actuality his wife took them to a former classmate China. The only way a private individual could buy $90,000 of anything is if the former classmate in China paid him first. So your former classmate sets up the deal & you take the fall.

As the economy disintegrates & people get more desperate for cash, expect it to happen more & more. An awful lot of guided missile delivery experts are looking up from their toilet cleaning jobs & wondering if there isn't a Chinese gravytrain waiting for them.

Comment by Marc Ramsey on February 17, 2009 at 8:44pm

To put the bizarre nature of export controls laws in perspective, the MicroPilot circuit boards may be manufactured, stuffed, and soldered in China, then shipped to Canada where (perhaps) the firmware is loaded, a few tests are performed, and some nice packaging is provided, at which point it is now illegal to ship them back to China without a license...

Comment by Howard Loewen on February 17, 2009 at 10:35pm

The circuit boards for the autopilots in question are manufactured in Canada.

While one can argue the effectiveness of export controls on UAV autopilots, it is still the law and breaking this particular law is probably a poor choice.

Howard

Comment by Noth666 on February 18, 2009 at 3:39am

Happily enough this export control nonsense only concerns US and Canada. The only downside to this is that most makers of this kind of stuff are on that side making it hard for the rest of the world to "join in the fun".

Comment by Howard Loewen on February 18, 2009 at 6:10am

UAVs and UAV autopilots are controlled by the Wassenaar Arrangement (see www.wassenaar.org) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (see www.mtcr.info). The list of countries that belong to these groups is extensive. All of the countries that belong to these groups are supposed to enforce a common set of export controls. The sites include lists of all the various military and non-military goods that the members countries control.

Comment by Rory Paul on February 18, 2009 at 7:07am

The President of MicroPilot monitors DIYDrones....

Comment by Paul Marsh on February 18, 2009 at 7:19am

@Jack -- I take your point, but while I am not a guided missile expert, I am a professional who is quite literally cleaning toilets at night to help make ends meet while looking for work in my field. The last thing that would occur to me is selling secrets to China, or doing anything illegal. There are a few honest folks left!

Comment by george on February 18, 2009 at 7:54am

@Paul Marsh -- The turning of you into a criminal requires nothing more then then the stroke of a bureaucrats pen.

Comment by george on February 18, 2009 at 7:59am

Read the full story guys--
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said Hanson, who works at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the patient safety office, had not yet been charged in the case.

So what is it? Has she been charged or not?

Comment by Howard Loewen on February 18, 2009 at 8:22am

I believe that Nina Ki-Hanson has been charged and that her husband (who works at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center) has not been charged.

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