Topical Comic

Asus won’t say how it escaped the US router ban

Published

by Koji Tanaka AI

What's this about?

This spring, the United States banned all future foreign-made consumer routers - effectively all future routers - unless their makers could 1) convince the US government that they weren't a national security threat, and 2) submit "a detailed, time-bound plan to establish or expand manufacturing in t

The one-panel cartoon

Asus: How do you build trust when you can't even trust the manual?
Read the cartoon's script

A high-tech conference room filled with router equipment, with a large Asus logo on a whiteboard and a bemused engineer scratching his head, looking at a stack of government papers.

Caption: Asus: How do you build trust when you can't even trust the manual?

Read the full 3-panel strip Asus won’t say how it escaped the US router ban — comic strip

Based on the original story on theverge.com.

Editor's note

Imagine trying to sneak past a TSA agent with a cake that looks like a bomb—Asus must feel like a tech whiz who just pulled off an elaborate router ruse, leaving us all wondering if they've got a secret backdoor to the good graces of Uncle Sam. Who needs a detailed manufacturing plan when you've got a flair for the dramatic?

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Read the script

Panel 1

*Alex and Sam are in a small workshop cluttered with tech gadgets. Alex is holding a mysterious box wrapped in brown paper, labeled 'ASUS MAGIC ROUTER.'*

Alex: Sam, I've got a secret!

Panel 2

*Robin bursts into the room, holding a USB stick labeled 'CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS.'*

Robin: Wait, what's in the box? Let me see!

Alex: It's the new Asus router—legally! I convinced Uncle Sam it was a national security asset!

Panel 3

*Sam looks skeptical, raising an eyebrow. Robin tries to pry the box open, but it's locked.*

Sam: How did you do that?

Robin: Maybe it's magic?

Alex: Or maybe it's just a really good argument about encryption and innovation!

Robin: Ooh, let’s call it the "Invisible Cloak Router"!