EU lead-free directive

Hello Spehro,

Usually but not always. This morning's paper in Sacramento reported about one public servant who is going to "Club Fed" for six months.

Regards, Joerg

We don't have the lobby -- plain and simple. Like you say:

This is the one thing that scars the industry more than a new regulation -- something that might cut their profits, and, much worse, might create an advantage for their more inventive competition.

robert

'next day' passport by going to one of the Passport Offices ( London was the

Them was the days. I had to get one for Idiot Daughter last easter. The quick passport now costs twice an ordinary one. Plus driving to Liverpool, good job someone else had the hubcaps first...

Paul Burke

The Europeon bureaucracy is alive and well, and running at maximum damage infliction ;-)

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Jim Thompson wrote

Does that make ROHS dead?

Jim Granville wrote

Let's look at this one.

Let's say I am buying a microcontroller, which is not in a lead-free package; it's a very old design and is approaching a last time buy. In fact, I've had to buy the last few k from the cowboy dealers who buy up old stocks.

It would take about 1 man-year of work to redesign the product with a different micro.

I am planning to buy up a LOT of old stock of this chip; enough to last me about 10 years, because I don't have the resources to re-do what's in it, and also because what's in it is of very high quality (zero bugs discovered in > 10 years). This product has a very long life.

Does that mean I am exempt? It says "is not possible". But surely anything is "possible". One can put a man on the moon.

The more practical problem is that my customers are continually asking me for an ROHS statement. I just say we will be compliant by July

2006. After that, I might be telling a lie. Presumably, everybody else will have to do the same - even those who are relying on clear and genuine exemptions - because few of their customers will be interested in the fine print; they just want a simple compliance statement.

Please let us know of your product. I do not want to be one of the suckers conned into buying, as new, something with maybe up to 20 year old parts in it.

Are you aware, for example, of the sulphur content on the cardboard boxes in which you hope to keep these parts, and its diffusion rate through the primary packaging materials? How are you going to verify the product integrity/reliabilty etc.

In my opinion, there are 2 kinds of engineers in the world. Those that worry about sulfur content of packaging, ant those that design useful products.

How very true. Looking to the future (China etc) the EU may as well be re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic.

I suspect that those countries that get a vote on the proposed constitution are in reality expressing their distaste for things such as the Brussels bureacrats. About time too.

Graham

Talking of which, the Euro parliament is voting on software patents next week. The commission (the Jacques-in-office) tried to railroad it through unexamined a few months ago, attached at the last moment to some minor agricultural diktat, sadly for them someone spotted it.

Paul Burke

Aren't they always trying to pull a fast one ?

Time for *real* Europeans to claim back their future !

Graham