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Amazon isn't in the business of forcing oppressive regimes to realize they are oppressive regimes, they are in the business of selling goods and services regard

Amazon isn't in the business of forcing oppressive regimes to realize they are oppressive regimes, they are in the business of selling goods and services regardless of the oppressiveness of the regime governing the region where the currency comes from. If you want Amazon to stop doing business with oppressive regimes, contact your politicians about sanctions.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
icebraining 9y ago
The problem is deeper than that; even if Amazon doesn't sell stuff to oppressive regimes, they host the sites/services of companies who do. And if the solution was to force Amazon to block any access from their servers to those oppressive regimes, that wouldn't help Signal at all, because they too would be blocked.
smileysteve 9y ago
You're not wrong, it would certainly not be in shareholder's financial interest for amazon to take this stance. For the record, U.S. politicians have voted on sanctions on Russia for cyber crimes and brought representatives to the UN raising the issue of their human rights records.
- adventured 9y ago
  > For the record, U.S. politicians have voted on sanctions on Russia Indeed, the US nearly destroyed Russia's largest aluminum company - Rusal - recently in a sanctions move against an oligarch close to Putin (Oleg Deripaska, who owns the majority of Rusal). The best way to deal with oppressive regimes, is generally to go through powerful political bodies/groups, whether the UN, G7, or US Congress. The impact a company like Amazon (or Google, Facebook, etc) can make is very trivial. So trivial as to be meaningless to a typical oppressive regime. Congress, in tandem with large allies, can hammer eg Russia's primitive industrial economy, by comparison, with targeted sanctions on steel, aluminum, whatever.
  - Bendingo 9y ago
    > oligarch close to Putin (Oleg Deripaska ...) For the record, Deripaska is no friend of Putin, who forced him to start paying tax and stay out of politics. Look at how Putin humiliated him several years ago during an industrial dispute, when Putin took the side of workers against Deripaska. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfbWnDXCx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfbWnDXCx8
    - nasredin 9y ago
      Yep. He hates Putin so much he invited one of his ministers (?) to sail on his yacht with some escorts. /s
    - criley2 9y ago
      For the record -- OF COURSE he's a friend/loyal to Putin, because in the Russian state all of the oligarchs owe fealty to the leader. Look to Mikhail Khodorkovsky to see what happens to those that aren't Putin's friends.
  - 18pfsmt 9y ago
    Actually, this has changed: "On April 23, however, the US government gave Rusal's American customers "more time to comply with sanctions", even saying it would "consider lifting them if United Company Rusal Plc’s major shareholder, Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, ceded control of the company." Department of the Treasury gave these clients until October 23, 2018 to comply with (wind down business) the Rusal sanctions." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions-rusal/u-s-extends-deadline-for-rusal-sanctions-aluminum-prices-dive-idUSKBN1HU1N8 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions-rusa...

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

icebraining 9y ago

The problem is deeper than that; even if Amazon doesn't sell stuff to oppressive regimes, they host the sites/services of companies who do. And if the solution was to force Amazon to block any access from their servers to those oppressive regimes, that wouldn't help Signal at all, because they too would be blocked.

smileysteve 9y ago

You're not wrong, it would certainly not be in shareholder's financial interest for amazon to take this stance. For the record, U.S. politicians have voted on sanctions on Russia for cyber crimes and brought representatives to the UN raising the issue of their human rights records.

adventured 9y ago
> For the record, U.S. politicians have voted on sanctions on Russia Indeed, the US nearly destroyed Russia's largest aluminum company - Rusal - recently in a sanctions move against an oligarch close to Putin (Oleg Deripaska, who owns the majority of Rusal). The best way to deal with oppressive regimes, is generally to go through powerful political bodies/groups, whether the UN, G7, or US Congress. The impact a company like Amazon (or Google, Facebook, etc) can make is very trivial. So trivial as to be meaningless to a typical oppressive regime. Congress, in tandem with large allies, can hammer eg Russia's primitive industrial economy, by comparison, with targeted sanctions on steel, aluminum, whatever.
- Bendingo 9y ago
  > oligarch close to Putin (Oleg Deripaska ...) For the record, Deripaska is no friend of Putin, who forced him to start paying tax and stay out of politics. Look at how Putin humiliated him several years ago during an industrial dispute, when Putin took the side of workers against Deripaska. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfbWnDXCx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfbWnDXCx8
  - nasredin 9y ago
    Yep. He hates Putin so much he invited one of his ministers (?) to sail on his yacht with some escorts. /s
  - criley2 9y ago
    For the record -- OF COURSE he's a friend/loyal to Putin, because in the Russian state all of the oligarchs owe fealty to the leader. Look to Mikhail Khodorkovsky to see what happens to those that aren't Putin's friends.
- 18pfsmt 9y ago
  Actually, this has changed: "On April 23, however, the US government gave Rusal's American customers "more time to comply with sanctions", even saying it would "consider lifting them if United Company Rusal Plc’s major shareholder, Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, ceded control of the company." Department of the Treasury gave these clients until October 23, 2018 to comply with (wind down business) the Rusal sanctions." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions-rusal/u-s-extends-deadline-for-rusal-sanctions-aluminum-prices-dive-idUSKBN1HU1N8 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions-rusa...