Google to close engineering office in Russia • Hacker News Board

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#51

Post by tluyben2 » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 1:47 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #26

mszyndel wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're closing Google News in Spain I suppose.

Sure, but I don't see how is that not cooperating. Not cooperating would be to close the offices in the country and continue running the site without paying, in defiance to the law. But what Google did was adapt itself to be in compliance with Spanish law, by taking one of the two options available.

Yes, the problem here of course is that 'the people on the street' don't know about this crazy stuff in their country, so something more drastic needs to happen than shutting down Google News if you want 'the people' to speak up. Trying to block Google because they refuse to comply would be a good one for that.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#52

Post by lentil_soup » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 1:48 PM UTC

tribaal wrote: post #41

raverbashing wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why is Zurich a big part of Google's strategy as opposed to other places in Europe

Because it's been on position 1 of best standard of living in the world pretty consistently, and Switzerland is geographically central, well interconnected, business-friendly, and not part of the EU? Just a guess :) EDIT: It seems Vienna is on top since 2010, my bad. But position 2 is not so bad, and the other points still stand :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Quality_of_Living_Surve...

Those surveys are incredibly subjective and will vary person to person. There's not such thing as a "best" city for standard of living.

When comparing cities I think it's best to use hard data and then compare them based on what's important to you personally. I usually use http://www.numbeo.com as a starting point for this.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#53

Post by ThinkBeat » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 1:52 PM UTC

it is worrying what is happening in Russia but much less so than what is going in the USA.

Google, Facbook etc tightly integrated with the nations intelligence agencies, mining the data found there to make secret lists that could result in assassinations, indefinite detention and torture.

Russias actions are for the most part overt, and rightly criticized, what the US does, it does so covertly.

If anyone speaks about the actions that the Us takes in secret they are hunted to the end of the world, and must seek refuge in Russia.

We hear a lot about Russian dissidents leaving Russia because they have their freedom limited. Snowden and Julian Assange have had their freedom limited to much more so than any of the Putin dissidents. (With the exception of the possibility that a couple of them have been assassinated)

Remember that the air plane carrying the President of Bolivia was forced to land and be searched by American allies under the suspicion that Snowden might be on-board. Can you imagine AirForce One being forced to land, and be searched by Russia or China? Becaus they suspected it might be carrying a dissident? I dont think so.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#54

Post by frozenport » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 1:55 PM UTC

tinco wrote: post #27

Will they close their offices in Europe as well when Europe implements the same laws? They're put in a bad light now because Russia does it, but the EU is contemplating the exact same laws. These laws are not because Russia wants the data for themselves, they are because the US currently has them and they've been shown to be absolutely incapable of dealing with that responsibility in an acceptable fashion.

No! The EU doesnt require its citizens to show ID when logging onto public WiFi!

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#55

Post by riffraff » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 1:56 PM UTC

robk wrote: post #34

Word is that most employees are being offered full relocation (generally to Zurich) which I have to think will be well received. This goes for both Moscow and St Petersburg.

> which I have to think will be well received.

sorry I can't read the english here, do you expect it to be well received (why? seems like it would be a though choice for many people even with a relocation package) or are you expressing hope it will be?

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#56

Post by rurban » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 1:59 PM UTC

skj wrote: post #37

rurban wrote: post #14

Oh my, goodbye sanitizers? There's still work on the kernel sanitizer and a few other things to be done. Disturbing.

I don't believe anyone is getting fired, though it's true that a mandatory relocation will mean a lot of people choose to leave the company.

I assumed that they will not fire their best engineers. But will their families relocate to Europe, having to speak weird languages and spend a lot of money? Zurich is super expensive.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#57

Post by nemanja » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 2:00 PM UTC

jahnu wrote: post #44

tribaal wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's been on position 1 of best standard of living in the world pretty consistently, and Switzerland is geographically central, well interconnected, business-friendly, and not part of the EU? Just a guess :) EDIT: It seems Vienna is on top since 2010, my bad. But position 2 is not so bad, and the other points still stand :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Quality_of_Living_Surve...

These rankings are really odd. They feel like they are only aimed at international business people who work around the world and take their families with them.

Your intuition is spot on - Mercer is one of the biggest HR/benefits consulting firms, and primary use cases of their surveys are to inform execs and provide a reference to HR when calculating cost of living comp adjustments when execs are relocating

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#58

Post by _wmd » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 2:04 PM UTC

riffraff wrote: post #55

robk wrote: post #34

Word is that most employees are being offered full relocation (generally to Zurich) which I have to think will be well received. This goes for both Moscow and St Petersburg.

> which I have to think will be well received. sorry I can't read the english here, do you expect it to be well received (why? seems like it would be a though choice for many people even with a relocation package) or are you expressing hope it will be?

The value of the rouble has collapsed over the past year, I think he means tech workers would only be too happy to leave.

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#59

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 2:04 PM UTC

ars wrote: post #3

jmnicolas wrote: post #2

" Google Inc has plans to shut down its engineering office in Russia amid a crackdown on internet freedoms and a law regarding data-handling practices " Should they close their offices in USA then ? (yes I'm being sarcastic here)

People are so used to their freedom, that they (rightly) get upset over even small losses of it. But it makes them forget what real loss of freedom is, and think that what they lost is somehow comparable. They just don't realize how bad it can really get.

[deleted]

Re: Google to close engineering office in Russia

#60

Post by schrodinger » Fri, Dec 12, 2014, 2:09 PM UTC

ThinkBeat wrote: post #53

it is worrying what is happening in Russia but much less so than what is going in the USA. Google, Facbook etc tightly integrated with the nations intelligence agencies, mining the data found there to make secret lists that could result in assassinations, indefinite detention and torture. Russias actions are for the most part overt, and rightly criticized, what the US does, it does so covertly. If anyone speaks about…

Sorry, but I really don't buy the argument that USA is worse than Russia in this respect. Snowden, while I totally applaud what he did and would love to see him pardoned, or protected under whistleblower laws, leaked a ton of highly classified information. Again, I think he did the right thing, but him being prosecuted is not the same as "if anyone speaks about the actions the U.S. takes in secret they are hunted to the end of the world." Plenty of people have overtly criticized the U.S. government without any fear of retribution.