How is it like to be a dev in Iran • Hacker News Board

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#21

Post by smnrchrds » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:12 PM UTC

keithnz wrote: post #17

smnrchrds wrote: post #6

Dear devs, Please stop using Google Cloud Platform to host your projects. GCP blocks Iran, so by hosting any part of the app on GCP, your apps become impossible to access from Iran. Azure and AWS do not do this. This form of blocking is exclusive to GCP. After the switch to GCP, Iranians lost access to gitlab. Firefox Monitor is blocked in Iran for the same reason. The list goes on and on. I don't believe Mozilla tea…

I'm interested in knowning more about this. Not a lot of information about it, I found this article from 2018... https://news.sky.com/story/google-faces-calls-to-lift-anti-c...

The documentation seems to be lacking, which explains why so many people in the US seem to have not heard of this. But as always, Stack Overflow has an outdated answer:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32678313/what-countries-...

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#22

Post by user5994461 » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:12 PM UTC

smnrchrds wrote: post #6

Dear devs, Please stop using Google Cloud Platform to host your projects. GCP blocks Iran, so by hosting any part of the app on GCP, your apps become impossible to access from Iran. Azure and AWS do not do this. This form of blocking is exclusive to GCP. After the switch to GCP, Iranians lost access to gitlab. Firefox Monitor is blocked in Iran for the same reason. The list goes on and on. I don't believe Mozilla tea…

Dear dev,

Please disregard the message above. USA and Europe too are forbidding you to sell to Iran and a couple of countries. Google is doing you a favor by blocking traffic out of the box. If they didn't do it, you would most likely have to block it yourself.

There are official documents listing items and services you're not allowed to provide with how many years of jails you're risking. Just because you don't know about them and don't care won't be worth squat as a defense when the police will come knocking on your company's doors.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#23

Post by jasonhansel » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:14 PM UTC

> not all servers like to get traffik from TOR. For instance, CloudFlare annoys when you are accessing its servers through TOR.

This is why you shouldn't ban Tor. In some places, it is absolutely necessary.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#24

Post by defanor » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:15 PM UTC

keithnz wrote: post #10

nixgeek wrote: post #2

Seems like it could be dangerous just to blog about these activities if you live in Iran?

That's what I was wondering, it seems like a public admission of breaking the local laws ( as corrupt as those laws are.. ).

Is it illegal to bypass blocking in Iran? I know in some countries it's legal to bypass such blocks if you can, even if a government tries to block proxying as well.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#25

Post by cm2187 » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:18 PM UTC

h0l0cube wrote: post #16

m0zg wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's kind of by design. What other effect do you think the total economic embargo would have? It's not like they're some super advanced country that's independent of anybody else for tech. Good (for the US) news is, it's working. They're getting ready to negotiate, hence the UK tanker intercepts etc. Weak negotiating position, need bargaining chips. I kind of agree with Lindsey Graham: if you just want nuclear powe…

> it's working The last deal for de-nuclearization already worked, but it was inexplicably terminated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_nuclear_deal_framework

Explications: supporting war in Yemen, Al Assad, Hezbollah, etc.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#26

Post by hartator » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:19 PM UTC

fabrika wrote: post #3

"Even in US we can find certain domains which are blocked and cannot be accessed like those which contain CP or wild anti-humanism contents." Is it true? I always assumed US never blocks access to websites. They would rather ask the hosting provider to take down the website or try to arrest the author.

Yeah my understanding the FBI takes the actual domain down in case of child pornography. But they still won’t mess with your DNS.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#27

Post by ilaksh » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:20 PM UTC

Its an ongoing war. Just without bullets. My concern is that people will see him mention things like censorship and for them that will justify an invasion that results in mass killing and destruction.

Does anyone know exactly what sort of actual submission they are looking for from Iran? I really don't believe its about nuclear development.

I hope that any Iranians who can get out will get out.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#28

Post by codedokode » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:21 PM UTC

Blocking access to documentation is too much, I think. Sanctions do not require to block any access to the site from countries under sanctions.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#29

Post by smnrchrds » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:23 PM UTC

user5994461 wrote: post #22

smnrchrds wrote: post #6

Dear devs, Please stop using Google Cloud Platform to host your projects. GCP blocks Iran, so by hosting any part of the app on GCP, your apps become impossible to access from Iran. Azure and AWS do not do this. This form of blocking is exclusive to GCP. After the switch to GCP, Iranians lost access to gitlab. Firefox Monitor is blocked in Iran for the same reason. The list goes on and on. I don't believe Mozilla tea…

Dear dev, Please disregard the message above. USA and Europe too are forbidding you to sell to Iran and a couple of countries. Google is doing you a favor by blocking traffic out of the box. If they didn't do it, you would most likely have to block it yourself. There are official documents listing items and services you're not allowed to provide with how many years of jails you're risking. Just because you don't know…

Google is not blocking access to Google Search, or Gmail, or Calendar, Drive, Photos, Maps, etc. Only access to dev tools (e.g. Android Tools) is blocked.

I am not a lawyer, but my understanding, based on the actions of companies with larger legal teams than most companies have employees, is that only a tiny portion of the apps need to be blocked in Iran to be compliant with the sanctions. Simplenote (hosted on GCP) is inaccessible in Iran while Google Keep is accessible, not because of sanctions but because Google's company policy blocks access to anything on GCP. I am sure the Simplenote dev would not be in jail had he chosen to host on Azure.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#30

Post by nutjob2 » Sun, Jul 21, 2019, 11:24 PM UTC

m0zg wrote: post #18

h0l0cube wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's working The last deal for de-nuclearization already worked, but it was inexplicably terminated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_nuclear_deal_framework

It's not "denuclearization" if you continue to enrich, retain all nuclear infrastructure, and if the deal expires after a few years. Parts of the "deal" were expected to expire as soon as in 2026.

It's the best deal they could negotiate. It was done by moderates on the Iranian side who have now been discredited and the hardliners are ascendant.

If you think military provocations and escalations are a sign that sanctions are "working" you're in for a surprise. All it takes is one side to make a little mistake and it escalates quickly and unintentionally.

Trump has emboldened the Iranian military by pulling his punches. Now they assume they can take action without a military response from the US because Trump is not willing to go to war. That logic unfortunately makes war more likely.