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

bbc.com

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

#51

Post by dash2 »

screye wrote: post #46
throwaway4good wrote: post #14

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?

The average Indian loves Modi. He is India's most liked leader since Indira. How people are looking at it: > raging pandemic It is not his fault. (to some extent they are correct. Covid and India, was like lighting a match in a haystack. Central Govt.'s response to Covid has been far less shambolic than the numbers make it look) > Massive recession Modi gets to blame it on Covid. Demonetization and an unclear fiscal…

Very interesting comment but I think the bit about Kashmir is naïve. Kashmir doesn’t want to reintegrate (“re”?) and India’s move here has been much like China’s in Hong Kong - a deliberate, authoritarian takeover.

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

#52

Post by d3nj4l »

fma wrote: post #19
green-bottle wrote: post #5

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.

You can say the same about Facebook and Google in China...You can sideload or use VPN. Some do. Most don't. Blocking FB & Google ecosystems allowed for China to grow their own competitors.

China has invested into its Great Firewall, which is far, far better than the techniques most ISPs here use to block websites. Besides, VPNs aren't banned, and the government isn't cracking down on generic VPNs. It's far easier to get a VPN in India to browse TikTok than it is to get a VPN in China to browse Facebook. You can even see it in the list of apps that were banned - there's two literally called "VPN for TikTok".

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

#53

Post by d3nj4l »

ffpip wrote: post #37
castis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems reasonable to me that most people would not go to such lengths as sideloading apps or employing a VPN to route around these issues.

You severely underestimate how Indian teens are addicted to PUBG. Kids have spent lakhs of their parents rupees on it. [1] Some have even dies due to addiction. [2] [1]- https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2020/aug/17/pu... [2] - https://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/16-year-old-addicted-to-pubg... There are many more. I just gave a single example.

For clarification, 1 lakh = 100 thousand. INR 100k ~= $1400, which is about the median annual household income in India.

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

#54

Post by ideals »

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.

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

#55

Post by ffpip »

searchableguy wrote: post #43
jeswin wrote: post #31

What I wish India would do is this: force Chinese phone companies to ship stock Android and full source code. They sell hundreds of millions of phones in India and will have to find middle ground, and the outcome will be good for everyone.

I expect this to increase prices for chinese phones. It is well known that xiaomi operates on thin margin so they can push their IT services and recoup the cost.

> IT services

Ads in default apps, user data collection and selling the said collected data.

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

#56

Post by d3nj4l »

oblio wrote: post #40
ffpip wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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

#57

Post by oblio »

ffpip wrote: post #42
oblio wrote: 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.

They won't improve. I'm willing to bet on it. They are getting into the advertising business. Advertisers and privacy/security don't go together. India is just getting used to the internet. Massive market. Billion users.

Advertisers and security/privacy do work well together, from a certain point of view.

As Jio, if I'd clone Zoom, I would add encryption, so that only I, Jio, would be able to analyze that traffic. Same thing with WhatsApp.

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

#58

Post by hamandcheese »

ideals wrote: 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.

China already frequently bans non-local apps, don't they? So I'm not sure what recourse they have other than escalating this to a real trade war instead of a digital trade war.

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

#59

Post by mc32 »

ideals wrote: 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.

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

#60

Post by ffpip »

thewhitetulip wrote: post #50
ffpip wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

One funny post I came across on Reddit. Future of India, Jio edition Once Jio is a monopoly, you'll have to get JioMilk from JioCow which'll be grazed on JioFarms using JioGrass in JioContainers. The cows will drink JioWater which'll come from JioMonsoon from JioRiver on JioMountain. You'll also use JioApps on JioAndroid (* in partnership with Google) which you'll buy from JioMart which'll use JioRouter and JioFiber…

Jiopoly.

Half of the the things you mentioned are already a reality.

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