Fastmail +1 . I have had an active Fastmail account for at least 20 years. It provides the perfect amount of features for me, without the creepiness.
Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
71–80 of 181 posts
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#72I wonder if the fastmail protocol could be hidden in AWS-like data streams to take an approach like telegram. If they try to block it, they shut down their entire digital business infrastructure. I have been looking for an alternative to Gmail, does anyone have recommendations? Fastmail? Proton mail? What put me over the edge is my young friend had a heart attack, went to the hospital and (during recovery) logged int…
I’ve had a paid account with Fastmail for probably going on 8 years I’d say. It’s been a fantastically reliable service and the odd (perhaps 3 or 4 times) I’ve needed to reach out to support it’s always prompt and a real conversation.
Nice to hear about the support. I haven't had to use it.
I'm a 2 or 3 year customer, bringing my own domain. Love being able to send and receive from *@mydomain.com for the entry level price ($50/year, I believe). App works great on both Android and iOS and doesn't drain my battery.
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#73The article touches on new signups being blocked, what happens to the current paying users in the region? Are they also blocked? How is fastmail helping them move/supporting them in this situation? I am a fastmail customer in a different region (Poland). I am however looking closely at this as who knows, maybe I will be on the receiving end in the future?
Sounds like that could just get them in more trouble? Such customers are probably on their own - but the article does spell out what they've done, so hints at the solution: VPN to outside Russia in order to sort out moving. (Or stay with Fastmail and accept that you need the VPN to use email, I suppose.) The CEO does often comment on Fastmail submissions here (brongondwana) but I suppose maybe not in this (lawyers in…
Well, I would expect them to address this issue specifically as that is one of the selling points of fastmail. You can get banned on Google for nothing and not being able to reach a person with your data held hostage. Now, this is a comparable situation where data is held hostage unless the customers in Russia have a way to access and retrieve whatever is stored on their accounts.
On top of that there is a question of billing and refunds in the case of long-term plans being paid up front (eg. one year subscription).
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#74>We have made the decision to block signups for all IP addresses we identify as coming from within Russia. We have also removed our app from the Apple and Google app stores for customers in Russia. WTF? Why would you ever do that? You said you have no legal presence in Russia, why f*ck over the users? Instead of ignoring hostile stupidity you're helping it, this is mind boggling. Sorry, I can't "feel good" about your…
To me it's more disappointing that they actually considered meeting the demands of the regulatory body. I'd have simply blocked Russia after the loss in court. Also, why should Fastmail expose itself any further, in any way as a target of Russia's corrupt dictatorship? It does suck for those Russians impacted. They should turn their ire toward the real problem though: their government.
> why should Fastmail expose itself any further
Expose to what exactly? Sanctions, neural-gas attacks or nuclear weapons? Does Russia have any legal or technical levers which could potentially harm Fastmail business?
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#75>We have made the decision to block signups for all IP addresses we identify as coming from within Russia. We have also removed our app from the Apple and Google app stores for customers in Russia. WTF? Why would you ever do that? You said you have no legal presence in Russia, why f*ck over the users? Instead of ignoring hostile stupidity you're helping it, this is mind boggling. Sorry, I can't "feel good" about your…
I don't think it's up to Fastmail to fix the nonsense coming out of the Kremlin. The Russian government wants them to basically compromise their service to comply with their spying needs, Fastmail simply opted out. I think they chose a reasonable option.
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me it's more disappointing that they actually considered meeting the demands of the regulatory body. I'd have simply blocked Russia after the loss in court. Also, why should Fastmail expose itself any further, in any way as a target of Russia's corrupt dictatorship? It does suck for those Russians impacted. They should turn their ire toward the real problem though: their government.
> why should Fastmail expose itself any further Expose to what exactly? Sanctions, neural-gas attacks or nuclear weapons? Does Russia have any legal or technical levers which could potentially harm Fastmail business?
I mean, I legitimately wouldn't be surprised if they took political prisoners if Fastmail showed up to court to fight, or hammer out an agreement. Let alone what they would end up having to submit to while operating within the country. Russia is known to be pretty hostile towards the west.
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#77>We have made the decision to block signups for all IP addresses we identify as coming from within Russia. We have also removed our app from the Apple and Google app stores for customers in Russia. WTF? Why would you ever do that? You said you have no legal presence in Russia, why f*ck over the users? Instead of ignoring hostile stupidity you're helping it, this is mind boggling. Sorry, I can't "feel good" about your…
I don't think it's up to Fastmail to fix the nonsense coming out of the Kremlin. The Russian government wants them to basically compromise their service to comply with their spying needs, Fastmail simply opted out. I think they chose a reasonable option.
They didn't comply, which is perfectly reasonable. But they should have stopped at that. I don't know what "fixing" you're talking about.
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#78I wonder if the fastmail protocol could be hidden in AWS-like data streams to take an approach like telegram. If they try to block it, they shut down their entire digital business infrastructure. I have been looking for an alternative to Gmail, does anyone have recommendations? Fastmail? Proton mail? What put me over the edge is my young friend had a heart attack, went to the hospital and (during recovery) logged int…
+1 for Fastmail. I've been happy for several years.
I wrote about my experience switching off of Gmail with some tips here if it's helpful: https://www.justus.ws/tech/how-to-ditch-gmail/
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#79I highly recommend scheduling a regular mbsync job to keep a local copy of your emails in sync with the imap server.
With this it's easy to pick up and move to a different provider or recover from outages, account closure, etc.
If you couple this with your own domain your email will be very portable.
Re: Fastmail accounts blocked in Russia, here's what we know
#80The article touches on new signups being blocked, what happens to the current paying users in the region? Are they also blocked? How is fastmail helping them move/supporting them in this situation? I am a fastmail customer in a different region (Poland). I am however looking closely at this as who knows, maybe I will be on the receiving end in the future?
From the article:
> As of the time of publication, there are no changes to other accounts, and email flow in and out of Russia has not been blocked, but we will continue to monitor the situation.