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Brazil Freezes Facebook Funds
- luizb 10y agoAh, brasilians !
- envy2 10y agoGiven that my understanding is WhatsApp/Facebook are quite literally unable to comply because the content doesn't exist (yay, E2E encryption!), this is also an absurd, disproportionate response. But, unlike the usual response of blocking WhatsApp for hundreds of millions of entirely innocent people, this at least keeps this silly little war between the lawyers, where it belongs. If nothing else, a step in the right direction.
- utopcell 10y agothis war will move to the users if Facebook decides to pull out of the country altogether. This is a very interesting case to follow: If Brazil 'wins', this might be the first case where a government says "I don't like E2E encryption on your app, get off my country", and a company complies. On the other hand, imagine if Facebook proper, pulls out of Brazil and that causes their government to fall. :-)
- goshx 10y agoFacebook pulling out of Brazil? And opening up for other businesses to capture the millions of users? Yeah, I don't think so, but it definitely is a fight that I want to watch closely. And regarding the government to fall... the floor is pretty close already.
- PhasmaFelis 10y agoIt would be pretty great, but it won't happen. Look at all the major tech companies happily collaborating with China's government censorship. They'll talk big about moral obligations and our children's futures and etc. when their interests happen to line up with those things, but access to lucrative markets will always, always trump.
- meira 10y ago> On the other hand, imagine if Facebook proper, pulls out of Brazil and that causes their government to fall. :-) Facebook already deposed one government here in Brazil. ;) That's why current gov probably will go full power against it anytime soon, if it isn't already started. I don't like Michel Temer (coupist president), but I dislike FB a lot more, so the better would be for them to destroy themselves and leave Brazil to Brazilians :)
- rsrsrs86 10y ago> Facebook already deposed one government here in Brazil. ;) That is a gross overstatement. Brazilian here.
- mc32 10y agoIt also wasn't a coup. The former is/was impeached for shenanigans involving the state petro co./graft and misstating economic numbers and many other irregularities.
- elros 10y agoFirstly, out with Temer! It was most definitely a coup. The people prosecuting her couldn't care less about the alleged violations, that's just a nifty way they managed to get into power. The people in charge now manage to be even dirtier.
- meira 10y agoI guess you guys proves that FB/whatsapp/Google/YouTube brainwashed most of Brazillians. After the coup, peace is reigning in Brazil (thanks to the media that stopped with the terror and the American tech companies, mainly FB, stopped their terror echo Chamber).
- tommorris 10y agoJust social media and not Globo TV etc.?
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- x0x0 10y agoWhile I share your sympathy for people being able to communicate, on the other hand, I can't possibly see a good future if multinational corporations are allowed to pick and choose which laws they have to comport with.
- cft 10y ago$11m frozen? Move on.
- Kinnard 10y agoUntil the bully comes back for more . . .
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- sbierwagen 10y agoSubstantially identical article: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-facebook-whatsapp-idUSKCN10801Q http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-facebook-whatsapp-i...
- ajarmst 10y agoNotably: non-paywalled.
- nstj 10y agoSuddenly everyone's newsfeed has started featuring stories about the polluted Rio Olympics.
- jbpetersen 10y agoAs someone not on Facebook, I'm finding it very challenging to tell whether that's sarcasm.
- meira 10y agohaha best comment ever.
- smhost 10y agoWhat exactly happens when a service like WhatsApp gets shut down like that? Is there a giant firewall or something?
- rogerthis 10y agoISPs and telcos receive blocking order. That means almost the entire country loses access. EDIT: grammar.
- kenshaw 10y agoMost likely the ISPs drop/block the BGP routes, or just null route traffic for those blocks.
- dingo_bat 10y agoHere in India they just return NXDOMAIN for the name. So it is pretty easy to bypass using 8.8.8.8. Also, the guy who installed the router at my home changed the default DNS to 8.8.8.8. I think ISPs do this on purpose. They don't wanna block sites their customers wanna access. And the government is dumb enough to not understand the difference between a DNS block vs a real block.
- tommorris 10y agoDumb is often good enough for big companies and governments. (See: DRM.) If you are the sort of person who is able to change your DNS, you are also capable enough to use foreign VPNs etc.
- aianus 10y agoSo what happens if you're behind Cloudflare (or similar)? They block all of cloudflare? Cloudflare drops you as a customer?
- Apocryphon 10y agoGiven that Eduardo Saverin is from Brazil, and if there was any truth to the "The Social Network"/The Accidental Billionaires narrative at all, it's oddly appropriate that Facebook is getting its money withheld by Brazilians once again.
- free2rhyme214 10y agoBecause he lives there? $11mm is .06% of Facebook's 2015 revenue. I doubt they care at all nor is there anything they can do about this.
- meira 10y agoHe doesn't live here, he lives in Asia. He's barely brazilian, actually.
- britishfetish 10y agoHe lives in Singapore. Along with his billions.
- meira 10y agoNot once again but for the first time :)
- tommorris 10y agoYup, everyone in a country of 200 million people is connected. Just like everyone in Britain knows the Queen.
- kiba 10y agoDidn't the supreme court or higher ups keep reversing ruling banning the service?
- boznz 10y agoWill google loon or the facebook drone thing get over these problems?
- hirsin 10y agoYou either need permission to get those up in their airspace, or really good G2A defenses :-) So no, probably not without really upsetting the government.
- boznz 10y agoSo satellite is the way to go for big internet companies to get over this? Diddnt Elon Musk mention something about putting up LEO sats for worldwide Internet.. Gone a bit quiet but I definately recall something like this...
- toomuchtodo 10y agoIf you're a government, you can override a corporation, full stop. Whether that's legally, or with force, it's going to happen (up to and including jamming satellite communications or even destroying your satellite). You could retaliate by force as a corporation, but then you'll probably end up dissolved with your corporate officers in prison.
- meira 10y agoGoogle loon and Facebook Drone are essentially the problem. Or they start to conform with local policies or they will find a bad ending anytime.
- meira 10y agoNext step: stop their tax dodges and unfair competition :)
- meira 10y agoIf you look by another angle, Facebook is holding 10, 100, maybe 1000 million Brazilian dollars in taxes at some bank in Ireland :)
- coliveira 10y agoThe interim government of Brazil wants to control media far beyond what they already do. This is just the next step, since their main ally (Globo Media Network) is directly threatened by the advance of Facebook and Google in the country.
- rsrsrs86 10y agoThat is just paranoia.
- rsrsrs86 10y agoI think there is a point that most coverage and discussions miss. Maybe judges understand that Whatsapp can not fulfill their requests, but they choose to block the service to put pressure on the company to better address a very important question, which is how society should treat the question of privacy and, specifically, how can law enforcement and companies cooperate on cases and investigation that rely on this kind of data.