I cant see the Azure salespeople in EU having a good day after this
Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
161–170 of 407 posts
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have a bunch of tech execs getting sworn in as lieutenant colonels for the Army Reserve, SF aligns itself with the White House just like Germany's big industry aligned itself with the NSDAP. It doesn't particularly matter whether an order is legal or not, it only matters if the ones in power want it.
What would motivate them to join the army?
It gives them a chance for grift. They're going into an "innovation" unit whose job is to get the Army (or DOD more broadly, but they're in the Army now) to select particular technologies moving forward. Naturally, they'll recommend whatever their employer produces, and recommend to their employer that they expand into other areas so they can get the Army to buy that as well later on.
Good news, that sort of behavior is technically illegal even if the current administration is wildly corrupt already. So give it 4 years and they open themselves to the possibility of being courtmartialed for their grifting.
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is however appropriate for a group of nations to agree that a person who has committed crimes (according to them) is to be arrested upon entering one of their nations. It’s not really something you can or cannot concede to, unless you are of the opinion America is the only sovereign state in the world.
Sure, but we’re going to interpret the arrest of a sitting or former POTUS, their direct subordinates or military personnel for the purposes of trying them in the ICC as a political act, not an act to maintain law and order in their home countries and its going to be much easier for us to justify invading and evacuating those people.
That is definitely true. I can imagine the ICC would fall shortly after (since I think enough member states will not execute the arrest order and so it’s existence does not do much)
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
the problem the EU has is that such an ultimatum lacks teeth. China gets to make these demands because they've down willingness to fund and build homegrown alternatives and then blacklist the foreign competitor. If the EU wants the leverage to make these sorts of demands, they need to start by giving out a couple million here and there for the competitors they want to see.
There is another problem: EU politicians would immediately use this against each other. For example, the Spanish governments in Barcelona and Madrid constantly do anything they can to sabotage each other. And this is not the only such pair. Hell, the French and German governments, the main force behind the whole EU, still hate each other.
The amount of dilly-dallying on the Israeli question (which is at the heart of the OP issue also) is enough evidence that the EU is a has-been power - they can't even make up their minds, what with France against the Iran strikes, while Germany likes Israel "doing our dirty work".
And both are centre-right governments to boot! If the White House is the clownshow in the circus, the EU is the acrobatics act.
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#165>> Casper Klynge, a former Danish and European Union diplomat who worked for Microsoft, said the episode was in many ways the “smoking gun that many Europeans had been looking for.” Damn right. Strong evidence that Europe should look after their own, and not rely on the good old US of A. Written by an Australian who thinks we should do the same down here.
I’m in the U.S. and don’t want to rely on this stuff either, but I don’t know that I’d really trust any sufficiently complex software. Anything can be compromised. Even if you build from source, your compiler might be compromised, or you buy a cool new usb peripheral and plug it in- boom! Compromised. Bought a new device? Compromised already. That printer you bought years ago? Compromised and in your secure wireless network. Your sniffer and firewall? Compromised. Firefox? Compromised. Tor? Compromised. Wikileaks? Compromised. Your dishwasher? Compromised. You drive out in the woods without any devices and live in a tent. Hiker comes along and takes photos. You and tent are compromised. Walking out in the middle of nowhere naked hiding under a bush my ass.
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
People really need to resist the urge to anthropomorphize corporations. Corporate behavior is well-established science at this point. They almost always do what is in their own financial interests. "Feckless" means "lacking initiative or strength of character". Corporations have one character: Making money. Fighting the government over a few user accounts has no short-term or long-term monetary value. It doesn't even…
50% of people do not support this. That’s a made up number. Trump has barely over 40%. He is an unpopular criminal who has shown time and again he will break the law. What even makes you think a criminal like this would win an election fairly?
70% of voting eligible Americans didn’t do the bare minimum to prevent Trump. 30% voted for him directly, and 40% couldn’t be bothered to vote at all. I’m even willing to excuse third party voters. But the Trump voters and non-voters don’t get a pass, not at all. It’s absolutely the majority of Americans.
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great, but look at this. This is a joke. Let's see ... the EU funded Microsoft to the tune of 234.26 billion USD per year, and have been funding it for 50 years (starting at 0 of course). How much software does the EU expect to get for "between 5000 and 50000 euro"? (one-time). A software engineer in Bangalore can expect to make more than that, even after tax! The EU got INCREDIBLY lucky after Microsoft's rise. Linux…
You make some very good arguments, but EU funded Microsoft to the tune of 234.26 billion USD per year ???
Yea that seems like the vast majority of Microsoft's total worldwide revenue for a given year.
The relevant number is probably the EU only fraction, and maybe just the EU governments' part. Which I'd guess is at least like 1/10 or smaller? Idk
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US continues to burn its soft power capital to defend Israel - this guy was only targeted because of his investigations on Israeli war crimes.
[flagged]
Was Epstein particularly connected to Israel? I mean, Israel already has very strong lobbying in the US. What would they have needed the weirdo for?
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds...appropriate? I would have no issues with every living former US President being accountable for their crimes, and I expect they would all be convicted.
It’s not appropriate for an international court that we’re not even a part of to put our Presidents and their subordinates on trial, nor is it something we should meekly concede to.
Why not?
The US has several ways to acquire jurisdiction over foreign defendants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_jurisdiction_over_int...
If Macron were to sell old GREs online then, as the Raju case determined, the US can try him, and if Macron fails to appear for the trial, he defaults on the case and is subject to arrest should he appear in the US, or any county which has the appropriate extradition treaty.
If the US can legally do that for selling GREs, it can surely do it for far more serious crimes.
If the US can do that to citizens of other countries, then other countries should be able to do that to US citizens, including the president.
The solution for American presidents is simple - never visit any place subject to the ICC.
Just like Pinochet should never have visited the UK where he was subject to European Union extradition law letting him be moved to Spain to be tried for his abuses in Chile on Spanish citizens.
US presidents should also be concerned about their support of "extraordinary rendition."
Re: Microsoft suspended the email account of an ICC prosecutor at The Hague
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
Germany also lost the war. Their highest ranking officials and military were not in a position to prevent it; moreover I’m pretty okay with having applied the winner’s justice over Nazi Germany. Put us in the position where we can’t say “no” before you apply your own justice, but we’re still going to do everything in our power to defend ourselves.
What does that have to do with what is appropriate?
I thought I was clear on this, but I guess not: it was entirely appropriate. They lost so thoroughly and the Holocaust was so repulsive that it was arguably necessary. Germany itself was also in such a precarious position that the continued existence of the German State was in jeopardy, and probably the only way it could continue to exist in any form even after being divided was to go through the Nuremberg Trials first. Don’t forget Stalin and the USSR was out for blood and new additions to the Eastern Bloc.