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An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

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Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#31

Post by Calamity »

bronzeage wrote: post #14

Iranians need to realize that if they don't anything now about their oppressive regime, they might never be able to. look at China, with their social score, Mass face recognition tech and surveillance. If there were no sanctions, you would be heading the same way. even with santions, it's just a matter of time until every authoritarian Regime in the world is impossible to overthrow. China will export its 1984 tech to…

I think that is what the current US administration is trying to instigate at the end of the day.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#32

Post by Simon_says »

bronzeage wrote: post #14

Iranians need to realize that if they don't anything now about their oppressive regime, they might never be able to. look at China, with their social score, Mass face recognition tech and surveillance. If there were no sanctions, you would be heading the same way. even with santions, it's just a matter of time until every authoritarian Regime in the world is impossible to overthrow. China will export its 1984 tech to…

Good thing the people don't have guns in Hong Kong. Otherwise it could get ugly.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#33

Post by ForHackernews »

miracle2k wrote: post #8

I'll note again the snowball effect that the Google Cloud block has (Google Cloud totally blocks Iran on a network level). Now, your services that you host on Google Cloud are not available. Say you are Gitlab, and you host there (they do!). Now, if you put your Open Source project on Gitlab, that project is not accessible to Iranians either (as well as other sanctioned countries). As someone you spends a couple of w…

...this sounds like a problem with centralizing the whole internet onto two or three servers -- excuse me, clouds.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#34

Post by bronzeage »

piokoch wrote: post #22
bronzeage wrote: post #14

Iranians need to realize that if they don't anything now about their oppressive regime, they might never be able to. look at China, with their social score, Mass face recognition tech and surveillance. If there were no sanctions, you would be heading the same way. even with santions, it's just a matter of time until every authoritarian Regime in the world is impossible to overthrow. China will export its 1984 tech to…

I don't think the problem is "oppressive regime", Saudi Arabia is a much more oppressive and intolerant regime than Iran and USA is fine with that.

of course that's not USA's problem with Iran, it's Iranians problem. it's an impossibly difficult problem to solve, and the more economically stable the regime is, the more resources they can spend on their survivability. Saudi Arabia will probably never have a chance to overthrow, they have too much resources to detect and squash any resistance.

Iran on the other hand is in a unique position of instability that they just might have a small chance of brighter future, small chance that will end the moment the sanctions will be lifted.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#35

Post by espeed »

miracle2k wrote: post #8

I'll note again the snowball effect that the Google Cloud block has (Google Cloud totally blocks Iran on a network level). Now, your services that you host on Google Cloud are not available. Say you are Gitlab, and you host there (they do!). Now, if you put your Open Source project on Gitlab, that project is not accessible to Iranians either (as well as other sanctioned countries). As someone you spends a couple of w…

Google Safety & Security Blog: An update on state-sponsored activity (2018) ...

Detecting and terminating activity on Google properties

"Actors engaged in this type of influence operation violate our policies, and we swiftly remove such content from our services and terminate these actors’ accounts. Additionally, we use a number of robust methods, including IP blocking, to prevent individuals or entities in Iran from opening advertising accounts."

https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/update-st...

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#37

Post by chaosite »

mschuster91 wrote: post #20
catmanjan wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is straight up racism.

No it's not, Americans have had difficulties getting banking in Germany because banks fear having US customers exposes them to liabilities. It's all a huge pile of steaming manure, especially that the US considers companies in the US liable for things that their holding or child companies do in other countries - even if the behavior is fully legal in the place where it happens. And banks and other corporations with e…

That's because having US citizens as customers requires them to file tax information for those customers with the US government, and the German banks don't want the overhead.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#38

Post by izacus »

bsaul wrote: post #29
mcherm wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is straight up racism >> No it's not, [banks are scared if the US] Yes, banks are scared of the US. And perhaps the racism stems from the Italian bank, perhaps it stems from the US government, perhaps it stems from the Iranian definition of citizenship, perhaps all share a part of the blame. But regardless of who gets the blame, it most definitely IS straight up racism.

So, racism now doesn't mean race ? Or does race includes nationality in your definition ?

What's the practical difference? You're being punished due to a place you've been born in. Not something you did wrong. Just a luck of nature.

And that's wrong. By any moral standard.

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#39

Post by arjmandi »

ForHackernews wrote: post #33
miracle2k wrote: post #8

I'll note again the snowball effect that the Google Cloud block has (Google Cloud totally blocks Iran on a network level). Now, your services that you host on Google Cloud are not available. Say you are Gitlab, and you host there (they do!). Now, if you put your Open Source project on Gitlab, that project is not accessible to Iranians either (as well as other sanctioned countries). As someone you spends a couple of w…

...this sounds like a problem with centralizing the whole internet onto two or three servers -- excuse me, clouds .

Sure, true point. Internet is meant to support freedom

Re: An Open Letter to Google and Apple: Stop Hindering Iranian Entrepreneurs

#40

Post by DanBC »

bsaul wrote: post #29
mcherm wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is straight up racism >> No it's not, [banks are scared if the US] Yes, banks are scared of the US. And perhaps the racism stems from the Italian bank, perhaps it stems from the US government, perhaps it stems from the Iranian definition of citizenship, perhaps all share a part of the blame. But regardless of who gets the blame, it most definitely IS straight up racism.

So, racism now doesn't mean race ? Or does race includes nationality in your definition ?

Race includes nationality in any useful definition of racism, and has done for many many years.

From 2010, written into UK law: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/9

> 9 Race

> (1)Race includes—

> (a)colour;

> (b)nationality;

> (c)ethnic or national origins.

From 1976 (over 40 year ago), written into the previous UK law: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/74/enacted

> 1 Racial discrimination

[...]

> (ii) which he cannot show to be justifiable irrespective of the colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins of the person to whom it is applied ; and

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