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India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

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Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has PRC also started it? It would be interesting if they go after critical components like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, machinery etc.

Why would PRC start a trade war with anybody when they're all largely customers. China barely imports anything from India so there's not even a place to start.

Not import restrictions, more like export restrictions, just to make the other suffer.

Wiki infobox suggests that they just have 3% exports to India, they can choose to take that hit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_China

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#122

Like all other internet bans in India I doubt this one will have any teeth. Everyone has a "Free" VPN app that they use to bypass these restrictions. Most people own Android phones where they can sideload apps downloaded from some third party APK website (of questionable trustworthiness) iPhones have negligible penetration in India so are not even a part of the equation.

This is typical HN mentality to assume that other people are comparatively well versed in technical aspects. 99% indians (may be a little exaggerated figure) don't have any clue about VPN. Most don't even know how to side-install any app. So government actions do have some significance.

I don't think so.

I knew an Iranian women who told me in Iran everyone knew how to setup and configure a VPN due to the restrictions they have in place.

It's that way western countries because we don't have such restrictions.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#123
post #28

I appreciate the sentiment of having more domestic alternatives and competition but there's an insignificant amount of work here. Indie developers and studios won't start making apps and games for India unless they can sustain themselves. That is hard. I expect bigger companies such as jio to take lion's share and have a default monopoly at this point. > India has emerged as the fastest growing app market in the worl…

Jio unfortunately blatantly copies western apps and adds a 'Made in India' tag. Therefore people think it is patriotic to use it. They copied Whatsapp but removed the end to end encryption. They copied Zoom and removed the decent security. They copied amazon and started JioMart, whose apps look exactly the same. Am waiting for them to start Jioogle, as an alternative search engine.

"Therefore people think it is patriotic to use it." - i doubt they have any many users.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#124
post #30

Where is the Indian opposition on this? Are they fully behind Modi's nationalism? There is a raging pandemic. Massive recession. Potential war with China. Internet bans. Crackdown in Kashmir. There has to be some questions?

This is not related to any nationalism. Its the response of a sovereign nation in order to secure the data of its citizens which might face 'potential war with China'. Its logical. If you apply logic.

Secure the video game! It's a threat to national security!

Pure Logic.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#125
post #108
post #103

One thing I find amusing in this saga that's been playing out since the last few months is TikTok's reaction to being banned. When it was banned in India a couple of months ago, it didn't file any lawsuits claiming that it's not a threat to national security (though it has rejected such claims in the past). But when the U.S. announced a ban last month, TikTok sued the U.S. government "on the grounds that it was enact…

Are there any laws in India that would allow a banned company to sue the government?

There are. Tiktok was banned in India on an earlier occasion because some women’s groups, or a ruling party politician, I fail to remember which, had claimed the app was morally corrupting the youth or some such thing. This ban was overturned once the company filed a case in the courts. IIRC, one of the arguments the defence successfully used was the ban would result in large job losses within the company. We are obviously way past any such argument now.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#126
post #72
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, there's hardly anything outside GFW that an average Chinese would want, local alternatives often are feature rich and considered "more advanced", outside news are dismissed as "obscenely fake and hostile". In the few Chinese that do pay for VPNs, most women use it to access Instagram for celebrities, most men for porn on Twitter.

You're talking about the ecosystem in 2020, after the market is mature. Facebook was blocked by China in 2009. WeChat wasn't even started till 2011.

Facebook Messenger also "wasn't even started till 2011". Before 2011 China had very mature local messaging (QQ, from the company behind WeChat) and less mature but burgeoning social networking (loads of them I believe, including part of QQ). Cherry-picking the date of one next-gen product that later took over is meaningless.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would PRC start a trade war with anybody when they're all largely customers. China barely imports anything from India so there's not even a place to start.

Not import restrictions, more like export restrictions, just to make the other suffer. Wiki infobox suggests that they just have 3% exports to India, they can choose to take that hit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_China

Why impose export restriction when the other party is doing it with import restrictions to the same effect

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#128
post #59
post #54

So far in the news (that I consume) I only see countries being agressive towards Chinese software companies. I can't imagine this goes on and continues escalating long before China reacts strongly. What is China's response going to look like? I feel uneasy that their response is going to light the fire even more.

This is in response to Chinese incursion into disputed territory that has left soldiers on both sides dead. Talking heads in India say these measures are Sun-Tsu like and mesmerized the enemy —Obviously the talking heads are propagandists, but on the other hand this is about the skirmishes on the Himalayas.

I’m glad that I’ve stopped watching TV news.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#129
post #3

> India's IT Ministry said it had "credible information" the latest batch were acting against India's interests. I'd venture to say many apps are against _everyone's_ interest due to the caustic effects on society they have.

Really country's claiming interests is so damn vague it should be a massive red flag as it can justify just about anything including say leveling Mount Everest to try to bring in more rain.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#130
post #56
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The things is, that's kind of how it starts. First you copy badly, then you copy well, then you improve. Baby steps.

A monopoly doesn't have much incentive to improve, especially not one that the state is effectively enforcing.

India is a huge market. Wouldn't other local companies in other domains see how much money Jio is making and try to compete with them? Tata, etc.?
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