Live data from Hacker News

Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

old.reddit.com

121–130 of 170 posts

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you expand on this, my understanding was that Israel held relatively free and fair elections.

In some ways that makes it worse. When Hamas abuses the population we can at least say that the majority of people have never had a chance to vote for anyone else. In contrast the Israelis chose Bibi. This is what the majority of the population wants.

Isn't there some form of governance that chose Hamas as leaders? I might not understand the distinction from how Gaza is governed vs. Israel though.

I'm also curious if the motivation for abuses as call it matters. I think there was some significant event that Hamas coordinated that then prompted a response from Israel?

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#122
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iran is one of those dictatorships where the majority of the population already dislikes (or plain hates) the government, as we have seen in many demonstrations that have been extinguished through use of extreme violence by the regime. Making life more difficult for ordinary Iranians isn't going to change anything as long as the army and revolutionary guard stay loyal to the criminals in power.

> Iran is one of those dictatorships where the majority of the population already dislikes (or plain hates) the government... Right, just like the people of Afghanistan must have hated so much the Taliban, with their cruel and tyrannic grip on power... just waiting for a saviour like the Americans to bring them up to the modern age... Well, we all know that's a load of bullshit now. The very moment the Americans left…

I don't think this is what they were saying. The political and economic state in Iran is about as far from Afghanistan as possible. Iran/Persia has a long history of national identity and has a highly organized society. Afghanistan is a tribal region and still does not have a sense of nation or really a mature sense of political identity. Iran is also a major power player in Asia with a far stronger economy, with a GDP in the top quartile in the world, and with one of the best performing stock exchanges in Asia in the last decade, while Afghanistan has for many years been the poorest country in Asia.

That said, Iran has a political structure that owes little to no obedience to the will of the people, with a non-elected supreme leader and guardian council (half of which are appointed by the supreme leader) who have the final say in all political decisions, so the actions of Iran should not be mistaken as the will of the people, even in the loose sense that representative democracies are.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#123
post #117
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot to say about Israel, but what you said isn't true. Israel didn't "invade" the land. Jews moved into the land legally, and then the rulers of the land at the time gave it to the UN to recommend what to do with it, given that there were two peoples there. The UN recommended splitting it into two parts, one for each people (the Arabs and the Jews). The Jews agreed to this plan, the Arabs didn't. The Jews t…

> Israel didn't "invade" the land. Jews moved into the land legally, and then the rulers of the land at the time gave it to the UN to recommend what to do with it, given that there were two peoples there. Right, and remember, slave owners didn't kidnap people, slaves were legal property. Moreover, there were not two people living there, there were the people who had been living there for thousands of years, who had b…

> Just say you don't believe Palestinians are people so didn't have any right to their homeland.

This kind of comment is not warranted. It is beneath the standards of Hacker News. It's putting words in my mouth which I vehemently disagree with. I will attempt to answer the rest of your comment civilly, but if you think that anyone who disagrees with you is evil, may I suggest your worldview is... incorrect.

> Moreover, there were not two people living there, there were the people who had been living there for thousands of years, who had been claimed by Britain (though not colonized). Claiming there were "two people" is revisionist BS.

Not sure why you think so. There had always been a minority of Jews in Palestine. By 1890, that was a 10% minority. By 1947, that was a 30% minority. What exactly is bullshit about saying this?

> That is, the government [the UN] sold half your home to a stranger, they agreed to this, you however unreasonably did not. What an asshole you are.

Or how about: the UN, the representative of all countries, which was given custody of the land by Britain, who had owned that land, recognized that there was an issue, both because two different peoples had legitimate aspirations for that land, and because many Jews who had managed to survive the Holocaust had nowhere to go. Given that Jews were by this point a 30% minority on that land, and given the many Jewish refugees, the UN decided to suggest a compromise.

And like I said, you can think this was a bad decision by the UN, it's certainly debatable, though I'm not sure what you think should've happened instead (either to the Jewish refugees of the Holocaust, or to the Jews living in Palestine). Was starting a war probably aimed at wiping out Jews really the correct alternative?

Either way, I don't think calling it "an invasion by Israel" makes any sense, since Israel didn't even exist.

Btw, serious question - what would you have suggested if you were the UN? What would you think should've been done in Palestine, and with the Jewish refugees?

> The jews, who just moved into a country, and seized a pile of land and property from the occupants of that country without the occupants consent "declare independence", starting a war.

It wasn't a "country" into which the Jews moved, it was part of the Ottoman empire in the early 20th century, then later British territory. Also, which land did Jews "steal" from the occupants of that country before 1947?

> When the fighting ends, the refugees returned to their homes to find that the Israeli government had now given their homes to yet more settlers. Opposing that is a criminal offense. > Right, except 100% of Israel is Palestine, and the overwhelming proportion of the Palestinian population has been forced into ghettos

After the war, the Palestinian refugees were actually taken in by Jordan and Egypt. They didn't "return to their homes" and "get put in Ghettos". I'm honestly not sure what you're referring to. The Palestinians that stayed in Israel were kept under some kind of military rule, but eventually made equal citizens.

As for 100% of Israel is Palestine... ok. What do you think should happen to the 9 million Israeli citizens on that land currently (or 7 million Jews if you prefer to split it by ethnicity)?

> You're playing BS semantic games,

I'm really not, I honestly think you're just wrong on many actual facts, as I pointed to above. These are not at all semantic distinctions.

> I want to be absolutely clear, these BS arguments about Israel not be a colonial invader are no different from claiming that there was nothing illegal when the US government sold the land of native Americans to colonists, and allowed them to eradicate those inhabitants.

"Israel" being a colonial invader makes little sense, since Israel didn't exist before that. You may mean "Jews" were colonial invaders, which is more understandable, though still not really in line with a lot of facts, like that they moved in mostly legally, and that most Jews in Israel were actually refugees themselves. Not exactly scheming colonial invaders. Most Israeli Jews had and have nowhere else to go.

As for the legal status of what Americans did in the colonies - firstly, Israel never "eradicated" the Palestinians. Secondly, even assuming your history is 100% spot on - what now? Because of the past, should the Americans living in American now be.. what? Removed? And sent where? Similar questions to what you think should happen to Israelis now.

> pretending Palestinians have equal rights to Israelis (or lets be honest, Israeli jews - the discrimination against muslims and even arabic jews in Israel is well documented - is objectively false.

Let's leave aside "arabic Jews", which is not how most of that group chooses to identify for various historical reasons (and which make up the majority of Israelis, btw).

Yes, there is a lot of discrimination and racism against Israeli-Palestinians. Yes, things are not perfect, not by a long shot. But legally, Isareli-Palestinians have the same rights as any other Israeli citizen, including voting rights. (And including there being many Arab members of the Israeli parliament.)

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#124
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they don't need a 'new' client for that. That already exists. Since minecraft is basically open source, it's not really a secret that how to make a client that simply don't require login. (Surely you don't want to say it loud or legal team of MS is going to chase you hard, but lots of client just slip that function in silently) Besides that. The minecraft login is basically a license check allow you to join 'lega…

Open source means the developers release the source code willingly and encourage other people to use it. Minecraft is not now and never has been open source.

They do release the source mapping of the java version alongside the binary. Which can be used to decompile the whole game back to compilable java file. (And you can fiddle it around starting from there). It's source available if you do own the game. So I say 'basically'.

The bedrock version on the other hand is completely proprietary. With very little extension api exposed. So there is very few mods of them.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half the point of sanctions is making the life of average people difficult so the leaders fear them revolting over not being able to play a game or, you know, feeding their children. The other half is to reduce their ability to wage war on their neighbors. Either way, the leaders are still sipping wine and eating cheese.

Honest question; has that ever worked? Cause I could see it just as easily weaponised by a sanctioned state to cause one to dislike "the west" more. Would you be more likely to overthrow your government when other governments start making your life more difficult?

You can use the US embargo on Cuba as a case study -- see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJETjgJM-Q4. The conclusion is roughly that the sanctions did not work, they only strengthened Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union, as well as serving to unite the citizens of Cuba against a common enemy and thus consolidating support for Fidel Castro. Another comment makes the same point about Iran and China today

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#126
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Iran is one of those dictatorships where the majority of the population already dislikes (or plain hates) the government... Right, just like the people of Afghanistan must have hated so much the Taliban, with their cruel and tyrannic grip on power... just waiting for a saviour like the Americans to bring them up to the modern age... Well, we all know that's a load of bullshit now. The very moment the Americans left…

I don't think this is what they were saying. The political and economic state in Iran is about as far from Afghanistan as possible. Iran/Persia has a long history of national identity and has a highly organized society. Afghanistan is a tribal region and still does not have a sense of nation or really a mature sense of political identity. Iran is also a major power player in Asia with a far stronger economy, with a G…

IRI is likely in control of IRGC at this point. They summoned ambassadors the other week with FM completely out of the loop! The revolutionary courts just ignored the supreme court's judgment and sentenced Toomaj Salahi -- a rap artist that expressed the voice of the people in his dissident songs -- to death.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/world/middleeast/iran-rap...

Btw, HN, that young man's life can be saved. [deleted incorrect info.] PLEASE CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#127
post #123
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Israel didn't "invade" the land. Jews moved into the land legally, and then the rulers of the land at the time gave it to the UN to recommend what to do with it, given that there were two peoples there. Right, and remember, slave owners didn't kidnap people, slaves were legal property. Moreover, there were not two people living there, there were the people who had been living there for thousands of years, who had b…

> Just say you don't believe Palestinians are people so didn't have any right to their homeland. This kind of comment is not warranted. It is beneath the standards of Hacker News. It's putting words in my mouth which I vehemently disagree with. I will attempt to answer the rest of your comment civilly, but if you think that anyone who disagrees with you is evil, may I suggest your worldview is... incorrect. > Moreove…

> Not sure why you think so. There had always been a minority of Jews in Palestine. By 1890, that was a 10% minority. By 1947, that was a 30% minority. What exactly is bullshit about saying this?

There were the indigenous inhabitants of the region. Then European powers started funding and arming a mass migration into Palestine, and in a totally unsurprising turn of events that increased the proportion of that region that were jewish. This is like saying america was not invaded, people just migrated to it, and suddenly there were more europeans than the indigenous population.

And much like america, the non-invading migrants ended up with all the power and resources.

> "Israel" being a colonial invader makes little sense, since Israel didn't exist before that.

Israel is the name the invaders gave to the country after they seized control of it from the people who lived there prior to the invasion. We could call it a European invasion, because the colonizers were from all over Europe, and were funded by Europe, if that helps?

> Yes, there is a lot of discrimination and racism against Israeli-Palestinians. Yes, things are not perfect, not by a long shot. But legally, Isareli-Palestinians have the same rights as any other Israeli citizen, including voting rights.

I just checked, and indigenous Palestinians can't vote in Israel's elections, so I'm not sure where your getting this claim that they have equal rights? Yes there are _some_ Palestinians that are allowed to vote by magically being classified as Israeli, but the overwhelming majority are not permitted to because Israel decreed that only specific parts of Palestine count as being Israel for the purpose of having rights.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#128

You'll be pleased to know that if you use a pirated copy, they won't come after you either...

Even for a moderately tech-savvy person, finding a usable crack of the most popular game ever is a treacherous task. Sailing the high seas as a layman is as risky today as it has ever been, especially after so many old hats (kickass, rarbg, etc.) have been decapitated by law enforcement. The most effective anti-piracy tool today is to prevent communities from actually earning trust and moderating content trackers.

Minecraft is likely one of the easiest popular games to find a crack for in existence. You just Google "reddit Minecraft cracked launcher" and you'll find the popular choices.

Of course, you'll only be able to play on servers that do not authenticate accounts this way.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even for a moderately tech-savvy person, finding a usable crack of the most popular game ever is a treacherous task. Sailing the high seas as a layman is as risky today as it has ever been, especially after so many old hats (kickass, rarbg, etc.) have been decapitated by law enforcement. The most effective anti-piracy tool today is to prevent communities from actually earning trust and moderating content trackers.

Minecraft is likely one of the easiest popular games to find a crack for in existence. You just Google "reddit Minecraft cracked launcher" and you'll find the popular choices. Of course, you'll only be able to play on servers that do not authenticate accounts this way.

Yes, but what are the chances the one you choose comes with malware?

Think of it this way: if I want to spread malware, what better way than a cracked Minecraft launcher?

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not all about preventing the creation of nuclear weapons. It's also about making sure the common person in $SANCTIONED_COUNTRY feels the pain. User UncleEntity says it better than I could in a comment that is buried a few levels: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40158797

It seems pretty damn unjust to indiscriminately punish people (the Iranian citizens) who may or may not even agree with what the government is doing and certainly have no power to change it in any case. Unfortunately I, too, have no power over my government or else I would lean on them to stop making life worse for people who did nothing wrong.

Yeah, it sucks. The only silver lining I see is that it seems this is the alternative to war, in which case people would be indiscriminately enlisted and killed. Maybe things wouldn't go that far either way but it's all I can think of.
Post reply on HN