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There was a front page story here, on HN, about a guy that made some component to make VPNs work in China, stopping all work because the secret police threatene

There was a front page story here, on HN, about a guy that made some component to make VPNs work in China, stopping all work because the secret police threatened his life.

chrischen 11y ago
VPNs do work in China, and it is a sovereign nation's right to enact and enforce laws it believes are just and necessary. My sister's home town in Michigan says it's illegal to spit on the ground. America threatens jail time for possessing weed!
- TheLogothete 11y ago
  I don't think debating axiology with strangers on the internet is worth it.
rorykoehler 11y ago
I raise you one Edward Snowden.
- ggreer 11y ago
  I don't see how that's remotely comparable. In the US, state officials simply don't threaten your life for writing software. Despite leaking state secrets, Snowden's life was never threatened by US officials. Yes, he's a whistleblower, but his actions are far more serious than developing software. Even then, US officials talk of imprisonment at worst.
  - marshray 11y ago
    > Snowden's life was never threatened by US officials http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/11/ron-paul-us-government-may-try-to-kill-whistleblower.html http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/11/ron-paul-us-gover... http://www.businessinsider.com/us-spies-talk-about-killing-snowden-2014-1 http://www.businessinsider.com/us-spies-talk-about-killing-s... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/edward-snowden-kill-list-joke-us-intelligence-chiefs http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/edward-snowden-...
    - ggreer 11y ago
      Your first link is Ron Paul worrying out loud. There are no actual threats being made there. Your second link cites Buzzfeed as a source, and the Buzzfeed article[1] claims some unnamed low-level officials would like to kill Snowden. Yet these anonymously-quoted people also admit that they wouldn't do it unless they had approval from higher up. Pretty close, but still not a threat. Your last link is about a retired government official making a joke in very poor taste. None of these are actual threats, let alone by US officials. They're either idle musings, or bad jokes, or "I want to, but I'm not going to." I certainly don't agree with the people making these despicable statements, but they're qualitatively different from, "If you don't stop leaking state secrets, you will die." 1. http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/americas-spies-want-edward-snowden-dead http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/americas-spies-want-edw...

There was a front page story here, on HN, about a guy that made some component to make VPNs work in China, stopping all work because the secret police threatened his life.

chrischen 11y ago

VPNs do work in China, and it is a sovereign nation's right to enact and enforce laws it believes are just and necessary. My sister's home town in Michigan says it's illegal to spit on the ground. America threatens jail time for possessing weed!

TheLogothete 11y ago
I don't think debating axiology with strangers on the internet is worth it.

rorykoehler 11y ago

I raise you one Edward Snowden.

ggreer 11y ago
I don't see how that's remotely comparable. In the US, state officials simply don't threaten your life for writing software. Despite leaking state secrets, Snowden's life was never threatened by US officials. Yes, he's a whistleblower, but his actions are far more serious than developing software. Even then, US officials talk of imprisonment at worst.
- marshray 11y ago
  > Snowden's life was never threatened by US officials http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/11/ron-paul-us-government-may-try-to-kill-whistleblower.html http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/11/ron-paul-us-gover... http://www.businessinsider.com/us-spies-talk-about-killing-snowden-2014-1 http://www.businessinsider.com/us-spies-talk-about-killing-s... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/edward-snowden-kill-list-joke-us-intelligence-chiefs http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/edward-snowden-...
  - ggreer 11y ago
    Your first link is Ron Paul worrying out loud. There are no actual threats being made there. Your second link cites Buzzfeed as a source, and the Buzzfeed article[1] claims some unnamed low-level officials would like to kill Snowden. Yet these anonymously-quoted people also admit that they wouldn't do it unless they had approval from higher up. Pretty close, but still not a threat. Your last link is about a retired government official making a joke in very poor taste. None of these are actual threats, let alone by US officials. They're either idle musings, or bad jokes, or "I want to, but I'm not going to." I certainly don't agree with the people making these despicable statements, but they're qualitatively different from, "If you don't stop leaking state secrets, you will die." 1. http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/americas-spies-want-edward-snowden-dead http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/americas-spies-want-edw...