Apple loves 1984 theme, 4 decades ago they even made a commercial with reference to it
Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
11–20 of 30 posts
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#12Apple doing business in Russia at all is pathetic
They obviously can't just bail and this whole moody exclusivity is what's truly pathetic.
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#13Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many of these VPN services can be used without the app by configuring them in iOS settings? I know "private internet access" can be used that way.
those protocols that can be configured from iOS are already blocked in Russia. You'll need an obfuscated Wireguard or other stealth protocols to make it work there. You can't configure them from the settings, but you can download the app and just add the configs there. That's what Le VPN does with Le VPN Give - they just give away the coupons to generate a VPN config, which you then just copy into the open source VPN…
I've not tested protocols that are available on iOS "out of the box" (guessing L2TP, IPSec?), but here's my two cents:
1. It differs from ISP to ISP. Right now I'm using a major ISP and I have no problems connecting to a Hetzner IP via:
- plain WG
- OpenVPN
- Shadowsocks
My mobile operator blocks OpenVPN, other methods work.
2. Time could also play a role - there seem to be "tests" about how the government could block some protocols without affecting business etc. - these happen bi-monthly and last ~2-5 days. My friend uses a different major ISP and he reported broken Shadowsocks this week, though it started working again.
3. The endpoint also matters (obvious in hindsight). "Internal" endpoint seem to "break" very rarely, if at all. Obvious, if you consider that a lot of people need to remote into their corp nets.
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#15Apple is bowing down to fascists.
Being just a little facetious here, but Apple is fascist.
Dictatorial... check
Centralized Autocracy... check
Martial virtues celebrated... check
Liberal and democratic values disparaged... check
Forcible suppression of opposition... check
Subordination of individual will to the state's authority... check
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#16I've been arguing here that Apple should not decide what apps a user can run on an owned device, yet, scores of commenters right here, on Hacker News, were telling me, "do research prior to buying the device". No, you shouldn't. Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. So far, the only ones who benefit from AppStore monopoly are Apple themselves…
>Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. What do you suppose happens when those same authoritarians make a reverse DMA and require that all phones sold be locked down only to a single centralized market place? If one thinks Apple should be complying (and bear in mind the amount of consternation there has already been around "malicious compliance…
Somehow, Android devices currently sold into both China and Russia both support sideloading apps, including VPNs. Apple has set up a situation where they are able to be used like this, and if you think that a country is going to put in laws to require phones work like this, the only reason that could even make sense is because Apple is willing to do so and has set the stage for it being normalized.
As it stands, Apple fights tooth and nail against EU regulation of their business model and yet simultaneously goes far above and beyond what any other company is doing to comply with requests from totalitarian regimes? Apple--the company, sure, but also, concretely: the people who work there--are traitors to democracy.
We simply shouldn't be willing to create technology where anyone could even come to us with such a request, even if it is the basis of a lucrative business model, as we KNOW totalitarian regimes will then take advantage of us as patsies for the subjugation of their people; and, if the resulting profit is just too lucrative for investors, businesspeople, and engineers to leave on the table, we should make it illegal.
Back in 2017, I gave a long talk at Mozilla Privacy Lab focusing on this very topic, using numerous examples that are all copiously cited. It will never not be shocking to me that, given how clear and constant it is that centralized control WILL lead to corruption--if not on purpose then accidentally, and if not from the inside then from outside actors using coercive actions, legal or otherwise--that people continue to defend the construction of centralized empires :/.
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#17I've been arguing here that Apple should not decide what apps a user can run on an owned device, yet, scores of commenters right here, on Hacker News, were telling me, "do research prior to buying the device". No, you shouldn't. Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. So far, the only ones who benefit from AppStore monopoly are Apple themselves…
>Apple should be stripped off this power. EU's DMA is a first step, but we need such policies applied everywhere. What do you suppose happens when those same authoritarians make a reverse DMA and require that all phones sold be locked down only to a single centralized market place? If one thinks Apple should be complying (and bear in mind the amount of consternation there has already been around "malicious compliance…
[deleted]
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#18Apple doing business in Russia at all is pathetic
They don't officially sell any hardware here since 2022. Every iPhone and Mac sold in Russia since then is grey import and costs accordingly, around 1.5x the Apple price.
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
those protocols that can be configured from iOS are already blocked in Russia. You'll need an obfuscated Wireguard or other stealth protocols to make it work there. You can't configure them from the settings, but you can download the app and just add the configs there. That's what Le VPN does with Le VPN Give - they just give away the coupons to generate a VPN config, which you then just copy into the open source VPN…
I've not tested protocols that are available on iOS "out of the box" (guessing L2TP, IPSec?), but here's my two cents: 1. It differs from ISP to ISP. Right now I'm using a major ISP and I have no problems connecting to a Hetzner IP via: - plain WG - OpenVPN - Shadowsocks My mobile operator blocks OpenVPN, other methods work. 2. Time could also play a role - there seem to be "tests" about how the government could bloc…
The main difference there is right now is that mobile operators have much better hardware because it's newer.
That makes it easier for them to implement government-requested blocks including using DPI.
The landscape is changing right now, that's true as each provider got it's own issues and tech abilities.
They can block services by IPs, but that the game they failed miserably while trying to block telegram. Also most modern VPNs(well at least Le VPN does it) rotate their IPs to avoid blocks. It's a lot of work, but that's a lot of work for those who try to block them too..
They can also block ports, but that's easy to change.
I saw them blocking the domain names, to kill the API communication of VPN apps, but that's a pathetic move too - you just buy another domain, push the update and that's it.
I'd recommend using Wireguard with Amnezia modification. It obfuscate the WG handshake as well as transport channel.
Re: Apple is taking down VPN apps following the Russian censorship agency demands
#20Apple doing business in Russia at all is pathetic
They don't officially sell any hardware here since 2022. Every iPhone and Mac sold in Russia since then is grey import and costs accordingly, around 1.5x the Apple price.
That makes concessions on software sales even more embarrassing imo