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An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

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Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#11

Post by arjmandi »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #10

There are alternative app stores available, for example: https://code.tutsplus.com/articles/10-alternative-android-ap... Does anyone know enough about the legal angle to talk about what it would take to develop an alternative platform not impacted by US sanctions?

It's not just about the publishers, Apple and Google are being forced to ban any transaction from Iran. Iranian apps cannot be published from any provider around the world on Apple devices. Apple home, Google Chromecast and other appliances don't even work in Iran.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#12

Post by reallydontask »

miracle2k wrote: post #8

I'll note again the snowball effect that the Google Cloud block has (Google Cloud totally blocks Iran on a network level). Now, your services that you host on Google Cloud are not available. Say you are Gitlab, and you host there (they do!). Now, if you put your Open Source project on Gitlab, that project is not accessible to Iranians either (as well as other sanctioned countries). As someone you spends a couple of w…

At work we ran G-Suite. Lead Dev went to Cuba for a holiday and was not able to use any of the services.

Great for him, not so good for a couple of angry customers that got no answers to emails.

He set an out of office but also said to those customer that he would reply to any queries ... oops

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#13

Post by rbrtdrmpc- »

Please to all the posters, stick your head out of your butt for a sec, this Iran thing is not something related to just some poor dev unable to publish on their store, it is a world wide dumb reaction all started from the USA foreign agenda. I'll give you an example to highlight how f'd up is the situation, in Italy, country with a quite respectful relation with Iran, banks started kicking out clients (with a one month notice) like my friend just because she was BORN in Teheran grew up in Italy (she's a fucking grown up working as a doctor), with dual italian/iranian citizenship due to the ius sanguinis (iranian mother, italian father) just because of the USA sanctions. If that's not WRONG, tell me what it is.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#14

Post by bronzeage »

Iranians need to realize that if they don't anything now about their oppressive regime, they might never be able to.

look at China, with their social score, Mass face recognition tech and surveillance. If there were no sanctions, you would be heading the same way. even with santions, it's just a matter of time until every authoritarian Regime in the world is impossible to overthrow.

China will export its 1984 tech to you, and it's just a question of when, and afterwards you can say good bye to the last chance you had to return to your country. it really sucks being there with sanctions but you need to take this historic opportunity because you might never have a second one.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#15

Post by arjmandi »

mikejb wrote: post #6

Whilst I understand where the author is coming from, I'm not sure the companies are to blame here. > Two years ago, under the guise of complying with American sanctions against Iran — sanctions that have existed for decades — Apple started removing Iranian apps from its platform. Sanctions aren't always clear-cut, and if a buck is to be made, companies often try to stretch interpretations, try to fly under the radar…

I don't think to blame the companies will have any effect either. We think these companies with their financial and market power can do better here to show that the tech community is not a part of political war. For example, there can be new companies in third countries with no legal obligation to US sanctions that can provide Apple and Google products to countries like Iran.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#16

Post by catmanjan »

rbrtdrmpc- wrote: post #13

Please to all the posters, stick your head out of your butt for a sec, this Iran thing is not something related to just some poor dev unable to publish on their store, it is a world wide dumb reaction all started from the USA foreign agenda. I'll give you an example to highlight how f'd up is the situation, in Italy, country with a quite respectful relation with Iran, banks started kicking out clients (with a one mon…

That is straight up racism.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#17

Post by Barrin92 »

BorRagnarok wrote: post #3

I sincerely hope that the ongoing trade and business war will lead to nice new competitors to Android and iOS. The more countries they ban the higher the chances.

This is the ironic part right here from a security perspective. If countries with sufficient resources like China or India or Russia would manage to establish a parallel ecosystem every country that even tangentially fears to end up on the USA's bad side has a strong incentive to hop on.

America's companies and government might very well be giving up a very comfortable monopoly in some key sectors right now by encouraging new ecosystems out of necessity.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#18

Post by [deleted] »

arjmandi wrote: post #11
DoreenMichele wrote: post #10

There are alternative app stores available, for example: https://code.tutsplus.com/articles/10-alternative-android-ap... Does anyone know enough about the legal angle to talk about what it would take to develop an alternative platform not impacted by US sanctions?

It's not just about the publishers, Apple and Google are being forced to ban any transaction from Iran. Iranian apps cannot be published from any provider around the world on Apple devices. Apple home, Google Chromecast and other appliances don't even work in Iran.

[deleted]

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#19

Post by sersi »

Trade sanction seem counterproductive to me, they breed resentment in a generation of young people, they breed poverty and that ultimately is what breeds extremism and fundamentalism.

Shouldn't trade sanctions be more fine grained? Having part of the population be part of the global economy seems like the best way to eventually push for change in those countries...

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#20

Post by mschuster91 »

catmanjan wrote: post #16
rbrtdrmpc- wrote: post #13

Please to all the posters, stick your head out of your butt for a sec, this Iran thing is not something related to just some poor dev unable to publish on their store, it is a world wide dumb reaction all started from the USA foreign agenda. I'll give you an example to highlight how f'd up is the situation, in Italy, country with a quite respectful relation with Iran, banks started kicking out clients (with a one mon…

That is straight up racism.

No it's not, Americans have had difficulties getting banking in Germany because banks fear having US customers exposes them to liabilities.

It's all a huge pile of steaming manure, especially that the US considers companies in the US liable for things that their holding or child companies do in other countries - even if the behavior is fully legal in the place where it happens.

And banks and other corporations with even the tiniest amount of US connections are rightfully scared of excessive punishments dealt by the US "judicial" system.

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