Namecheap: Russia Service Termination • Hacker News Board

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#601

Post by FabHK » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:48 AM UTC

jablongo wrote: post #572

FabHK wrote: post #489

Here my two cents as someone that has visited, lived in, or good friends in authoritarian regimes such as East Germany, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Hong Kong: - in a democracy, the population is responsible for what the government does. Conversely, the more authoritarian the regime, arguably the less culpable the population is. (Of course, people shouldn't have allowed an authoritarian figure to gain power... indeed.…

All the reporting from (non-kremlin) sources that I've seen say that Putin is quite popular with the average Russian: https://theconversation.com/putins-public-approval-is-soarin... .

You're right: I realised that the Russians I know skew urban and young and are not representative; and Putin seems to have majority approval [1].

Still not sure that changes in attitude will come about by making life more miserable for ordinary Russians; and even if the majority disapproves of Putin, there is not much they can do about it [2].

[1] https://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/world/europe/russia-ukrai...

> And yet there is desperately little that Russians can do to change their country’s trajectory.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#602

Post by cma » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:49 AM UTC

logicalmonster wrote: post #545

Is Namecheap going to be deplatforming Americans the next time the government bombs somebody? Should Chinese citizens be deplatformed for numerous human rights violations by their government?

Since they have many employees in Ukraine a better analogy would be should [X] citizens be deplatformed by company [Y] when [X] country bombs and invades company [Y].

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#603

Post by LadyCailin » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:49 AM UTC

FabHK wrote: post #489

Here my two cents as someone that has visited, lived in, or good friends in authoritarian regimes such as East Germany, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Hong Kong: - in a democracy, the population is responsible for what the government does. Conversely, the more authoritarian the regime, arguably the less culpable the population is. (Of course, people shouldn't have allowed an authoritarian figure to gain power... indeed.…

> arguably the less culpable the population is

This may be, but it begs the question: who is most responsible, then? Certainly not the people outside of Russia, yes? If the Americans invaded Russia, for the sole purpose of arresting Putin, this would result in worldwide, humanity ending nuclear devastation, including in Russia. It simply must be the Russian people that hold the most culpability for holding Putin to account then.

Is it fair? No, certainly not, but tell that to the Ukrainians being murdered by Russian people right now.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#604

Post by hibern8 » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:50 AM UTC

jkadlec wrote: post #478

Quoted post unavailable.

So why didn’t they take this action against US citizens when the US government attacked Iraq?

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#605

Post by metabagel » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

Reportedly, half a million refugees are fleeing the war in Ukraine.

I agree with Namecheap stopping service of Russian domains.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#606

Post by hankman86 » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

The point is very much to create additional cost and disruption for the Russian economy. Namecheap’s step doesn’t do much in this regard, but perhaps it convinces other services to follow suit and stop doing business with Russian entities. After all, it’s the Russian economy that pays for the war. Whatever creates a competitive disadvantage for a Russian companies will subsequently harm their revenue stream and the tax they’re due.

For the record: Nobody with a sane state of mind believes that the Russian people are “evil” or guilty of their leadership’s atrocities in Ukraine. They just happen to be the subjects of an authoritarian government and an onslaught of propaganda. At best, one could say that far too many are complicit and too few stand up to Putin. But admittedly, it’s a tough ask for people to protest a government that murders journalists and poisons opposition politicians.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#607

Post by shock-value » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

kweingar wrote: post #588

jkadlec wrote: post #478

Quoted post unavailable.

I'm uncomfortable with this argument. It seems that people here are pretty comfortable advocating for regime change in Russia and punishing the population until it happens. I don't think the implications of this have been thought out at all. If Bay of Pigs had instead been an open invasion, I can't imagine expecting Americans (especially ones who already opposed intervention!) to hear an argument like "we're incremen…

It would have been totally fair, especially in America, because we have a direct way to influence the selection of our leaders. It's obviously harder and more indirect in modern-day Russia, but the principle is the same.

Remember: this isn't regime change for the sake of regime change. The Russian government has shown itself to be a belligerent destructive authority that is a threat to the entire world (given the weapons it possesses).

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#608

Post by kaziboxa » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:54 AM UTC

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

We haven't blocked the domains, we are asking people to move. There are plenty of other choices out there when it comes to infrastructure services so this isn't "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

Dont you think that people that choose abroad registrar, choosed it not for low price (which is actually not low at all)? Dont you think that they have some other specific motivation "to be abroad"?

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#609

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:55 AM UTC

wimpypistol wrote: post #511

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

We haven't blocked the domains, we are asking people to move. There are plenty of other choices out there when it comes to infrastructure services so this isn't "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

It really sucks that you'd do this.

[deleted]

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#610

Post by mandaman » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 2:56 AM UTC

I understand the emotions at play and your inclination to support Ukraine, but blanket banning a country from your platform is not the answer.

This (1) adds to the incredible financial burden most normal, peace-loving Russians are in right now, (2) significantly erodes community trust in your platform, and (3) actually helps Putin on his quest to isolate his citizens from the Western-run half of the internet.

I have ~60 domains on Namecheap and have recommended you to my community for years. I can't, in good conscience, support a platform that makes sweeping generalizations/unilateral decisions like this. I urge you to reconsider.